China United Telecom Gets Preliminary OK For Internet Cafes
Thursday May 29, 12:55 am ET

BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- China United Telecommunicaations Corp. has received preliminary government approval to begin setting up a chain of Internet cafes, a spokeswoman said Thursday, but it doesn't yet have an operating license for the venture.

The company will make a more detailed announcement about its plans for the Internet cafe business when it has received the full range of necessary approvals, the spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires.

Local press reports said China United planned to create a nationwide chain, initially opening 700 cafes this year. Internet cafes are an important avenue of Internet access in China, where private computer ownership is limited.

While China United, the state-owned parent of Hong Kong- and New York-listed China Unicom Ltd. , is best known as China's second-largest mobile phone service provider, it also has businesses in fixed-line telephony and Internet access.

It is the only one of China's four major state-owned telecom operators to be licensed to operate the full range of telecom services, though the vast majority of its revenue comes from its mobile business.