China's telecommunications industry has invested RMB1.12 trillion in basic infrastructure, such as fixed line networks, but a report of the national Audit Office suggests that two thirds of this investment was non-essential. 

China's telecommunications companies invested the figure to build and maintain "basic facilities" between 2002 and 2006, the China Times writes, but only "one-third of the telecommunication cables" setup during this period is actually in use.

China Telecom and China Netcom, the two sole fixed-line service providers, have jointly spent RMB50.8 bn to expand their fixed networks at a time when fixed-lines are declining and mobile phone contracts are growing fast.

Former Chairman of China Unicom, Yang Xianzu, was quoted as saying that "the wasted investment in telecommunications could have built several Three Gorges Dams."

source:bizchina-update