FORM
6-K
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON,
D.C. 20549
Report
of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant
to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of
the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For
the month of October, 2008
(Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under
cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)
|
Form
20-F
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ü
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Form
40-F
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(Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in
this form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant
to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. )
|
Yes
|
No
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ü
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(If
"Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to registrant in
connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-__________. )
N/A
China
Netcom Group Corporation (Hong Kong) Limited
Building
C, No. 156, Fuxingmennei Avenue
Xicheng
District
Beijing,
100031 PRC
1
This
Form 6-K consists of：
An
announcement on the unaudited revenues and certain selected operational data for
the first three quarters of 2008 of China Netcom Group Corporation (Hong Kong)
Limited ( the“Registrant”), made by the Registrant
on October 15, 2008.
2
CHINA NETCOM GROUP CORPORATION (HONG
KONG) LIMITED
(Incorporated in Hong Kong with limited
liability)
(Stock Code: 0906)
ANNOUNCEMENT
|
In order to enable shareholders, investors and the general
public to better understand the operational performance of China Netcom
Group Corporation (Hong Kong) Limited (the “Company”), the Board of
Directors (the “Board”) of the Company
announces its unaudited revenues and certain selected operational data for
the first three quarters of 2008.
|
For the
first three quarters of 2008, the revenue of the Company was RMB60,679 million,
including upfront connection fees of RMB710 million. Excluding upfront
connection fees, the revenue of the Company was RMB59,969 million for the first
three quarters of 2008, representing a decrease of 1.8% from the same period of
2007.
Selected
Unaudited Operational Data
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As
at 30 September 2008/ For the period from 1 January 2008 to 30 September
2008
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As
at 30 September 2007/ For the period from 1 January 2007 to 30 September
2007
|
|
|
Local
Access Subscribers (’000)
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107,329
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114,480
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Including:
Residential
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64,963
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67,519
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Business
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10,699
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11,825
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Public
Telephone
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6,848
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7,061
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PHS
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24,819
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28,075
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Net
Increase in Local Access Subscribers (’000)
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-3,491
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508
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Broadband
Subscribers (’000)
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24,859
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18,363
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Net
Increase in Broadband Subscribers (’000)
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5,091
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3,935
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Local
Voice Usage (including Internet dial-up usage) (pulses in
millions)
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142,811
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153,537
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Local
Voice Usage (excluding Internet dial-up usage) (pulses in
millions)
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140,551
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150,684
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Domestic
Long Distance Calls (minutes in millions)
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19,480
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21,617
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International
Long Distance Calls* (minutes in millions)
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242
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252
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“Personalized
Ring” Services Subscribers (’000)
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30,770
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26,421
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Volume
of PHS Short Messages (in millions)
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3,864
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5,885
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* include calls to Hong Kong, Macau
and Taiwan
3
In the
third quarter of 2008, the innovative businesses of the Company maintained rapid
growth and the contribution from innovative businesses to the Company’s total
revenue increased stably. Broadband services are still the major driver of the
growth in the Company’s innovative businesses. With strong market demand and the
implementation of the “Super Broadband Plan” of the Company, as of 30 September
2008, the number of the Company’s broadband subscribers was 24,859 thousand, or
a net addition of 5,091 thousand compared to that as of the end of last year.
Although the growth of the Company’s broadband subscriber base was affected by
the Beijing Olympics to a certain extent in the third quarter of 2008, a rapid
growth momentum is maintained and a year-on-year growth of 35.4% was
recorded.
Leveraging
the rapidly growing subscriber base, the Company actively promoted network
connection speed and placed greater efforts in the building and marketing of
broadband content and applications services. In the third quarter of 2008, the
trend of broadband subscribers moving to broadband with higher connection speed
continued, the broadband content and services were continuously enriched and
applications services such as video monitoring and network information security
services continued to increase. In the third quarter of 2008, the upgraded “CNC
MAX” Client introduced enriched content and the business mode of charging fees
for value-added businesses and advertisement on top of the basic fees was
further refined. The number of content providers to the “Net Vision Plan” of the
Company which was launched in April 2008 increased, with over 40 channels.
Because of the enriched content and improving focus of subscribers, as of 30
September 2008, the number of active subscribers of “CNC MAX” Client was over
3,800 thousand. Meanwhile the ability of providing content and applications
services by the Company to subscribers was further enhanced. In the third
quarter of 2008, applications services including video monitoring and network
information security services showed a satisfactory growth momentum and the
Internet ID card iPASS service was launched in key cities.
The
ARPU of the Company’s broadband services remained stable and moderately
increased with the rapid growth of broadband subscriber base in the first three
quarters of 2008. This was mainly attributable to the upgrade of network
connection speed and the rapid development of broadband content and applications
services.
The key
strategy of the Company’s information and communications technology (ICT)
services in this year is to strengthen its capabilities to provide integrated
solutions for enterprises and government as well as to shift towards the high
end of the value chain with an aim to improving profitability. According to the
ICT services development strategy for this year, in the third quarter of 2008,
the Company appropriately controlled the growth of ICT services to reduce the
proportion of revenue derived from third party equipment sales with low
profitability and shift towards the high end of the value chain including
outsourcing services, network management and consulting services. In the third
quarter of 2008, the Beijing call center base jointly established by the Company
and the Beijing Municipal Government began to operate. In the third quarter of
2008, the revenue from ICT services grew less rapidly but its profitability
improved.
In the
third quarter of 2008, the operations of the Company’s traditional voice
businesses remained under relatively strong pressure. As of 30
September 2008, the Company had 107,329 thousand local access subscribers, 3,491
thousand less than that at the end of last year. Of this number, fixed-line
subscribers declined by 2,121 thousand and PHS subscribers declined by 1,370
thousand compared to the end of last year. Benefiting from the significant
progress in the Company’s “CNC Connected” business and its policy of actively
developing ICT services, as of 30 September 2008, the Company recorded an
increase of 125 thousand enterprise subscribers over the end of last year. In
the third quarter of 2008, as a result of mobile
4
substitution
and the reduction of operations activities of some enterprises during the period
of the Beijing Olympics, our call volume continued to decline. At the same time,
with the decline in the roaming charges for mobile voice services, the
replacement of fixed-line voice services by mobile voice services became more
rapid in long distance voice businesses. As of 30 September 2008, our domestic
long distance call volume declined 9.9% and our international long distance call
volume declined 4.0% from the same period of last year.
In
response to the decline in traditional voice businesses, in the third quarter of
2008, the Company continued to push forward the transformation of the
traditional fixed-line businesses to “family-use multimedia information
services” with a view to gradually enabling “Family 1+” to provide comprehensive
information services covering communications, entertainment and applications to
users through different terminals, thereby enhancing the value of the fixed-line
network. As of 30 September 2008, there were 10,800 thousand “Family 1+”
subscribers. Contributions from the innovative business and application
components of “Family 1+” continued to increase. The proportion of “Family 1+”
subscribers using broadband services reached approximately 60%. There was
satisfactory growth in the voice-based “Mutual Assistance” business among rural
subscribers. The increase in the voice-based and broadband-based content and
application services of the “Family 1+” service is expected to further unlock
the value of our fixed-line network and the replacement of fixed-line business
by mobile services is also expected to slow down gradually.
On 15
October 2008, the merger between the Company and China Unicom Limited becomes
effective. After the merger with China Unicom Limited, the Company’s
competitiveness within its service regions and its ability to provide voice,
broadband and multi-media information services to the customers using various
networks will be greatly enhanced. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the Company
will actively leverage the resources of the two companies in their distribution
networks, customer base, network, products varieties and human resources and
will continue to increase its efforts in developing the broadband business and
further advance the network connection speed and implement the development
strategy of broadband content and applications services. The Company will also
continue to improve and enrich the “Family 1+” bundled services to maximise
customer and network value and stabilize its fixed-line business, with an aim to
maintaining the Company’s leading position in fixed-line market.
The
Board wishes to remind investors that the above financial and operational data
for the first three quarters of 2008 are unaudited. Investors are
cautioned not to unduly rely on such data.
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By
order of the Board
CHINA
NETCOM GROUP CORPORATION (HONG KONG) LIMITED
Zuo
Xunsheng
Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer
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Hong
Kong, 15 October 2008
As at the date of this announcement, the
board of directors of the
Company comprises Mr. Zuo
Xunsheng, Ms. Li Jianguo and Mr. Li Fushen as executive directors, Mr. Yan
Yixun, Mr. Cesareo Alierta
Izuel and Mr. José
María Álvarez-Pallete as non-executive
directors and Mr. John Lawson Thornton, Dr. Qian Yingyi, Mr. Hou Ziqiang and Mr.
Timpson Chung Shui Ming as independent non-executive directors.
5
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to
be signed on its behalf by the under-signed, thereunto duly
authorized.
CHINA NETCOM GROUP CORPORATION (HONG
KONG) LIMITED
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By /s/
Huo
Haifeng
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By /s/
Mok Kam
Wan
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||||
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Name:
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Huo
Haifeng and Mok Kam Wan
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Title:
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Joint
Company
Secretaries
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Date:
October 15, 2008
6