Beijing Communication Corporation announced recently that it would be further deploying base stations for the low-end wireless service known as Xiaolingtong or personal access system (PAS) in Beijing's urban areas to reach 20,000 by the end of this year in a move to grab a larger market share.

"We will spare no effort to tap the market demand as we see a surging demand for the service," said Tang Liuming, an official with Beijing Communication Corporation, a subsidiary of China Netcom Communication Group Co.

Xiaolingtong is built onto the city's existing fixed-line phone network and offers low per-minute rates and one-way charges. It is predicted that there will 3 million potential Xiaolingtong users this year in Beijing. Sources close to the company said it vows to grasp at least half of the new market share. Kicking off its Xiaolingtong wireless phone service last year, Beijing Communication Corporation had recruited a total of 600,000 Xiaolingtong subscribers by the end of last week.

Lin Ming, vice-general manager of Beijing Communication Corporation, said the Xiaolingtong wireless service offers more choices to customers while the market is filled with comparatively high-priced GSM and CDMA services. "I don't think Xiaolingtong will impact mobile communications in a big way as it is only the expansion and supplement of our fixed line service," he added. In fact, the Xiaolingtong service has become a driving force for the growth of both China Telecom and China Netcom, proving a very competitive way for China Telecom and China Netcom to go head-to-head with the country's two mobile giants–China Mobile and China Unicom.