China: e-commerce companies to offer mobile telecom services

The Chinese government has issued a ‘mobile virtual network operator’ licenses to HiChina, a subsidiary of e-commerce company Alibaba, as well as for JD.com, which allows them to resell mobile telecom services.

Under the license they get to lease mobile services from the three state-run carriers — China Telecom, China Unicom and Chine Mobile — but offer their own independent packages with data and discounts for mobile devices that may differ from what is on the market. In total, 11 companies received the licenses.

With mobile commerce on the rise and expected to grow through 2014, having two e-commerce companies step into the space will likely herald in more emphasis on capturing shoppers via their mobile devices — and flip a new page in the m-commerce race in China.

In recent news, online marketplace JD.com, former 360buy, has revealed plans to re-launch the upgraded version of Chinabank Payments at the end of 2013 or beginning of 2014 in an attempt to create a homegrown payment system.