China Unicom says it opened 152 new GSM network base stations around Beijing this past weekend.

Since 1994, China Unicom's Beijing branch has upgraded its GSM network capacity eleven times. Such a large scale expansion has been conducted now because the company hopes to improve the network coverage area between urban and rural areas of Beijing.

The upgrade also will ease network jams during high volume periods.

China Unicom says it has achieved a 99.99% network coverage in the residential areas of Beijing, including villages and outlying areas.