Two years ago, the company finished the task of connecting the country's 200-or-so inhabited islands to the fixed-line network.

ECONOMIST: Another peril for paradise

Creating the fixed-line network was hard.

ECONOMIST: Another peril for paradise

The new measures now formally require anyone signing agreements to access the internet, fixed-line telephone and mobile devices to provide network service operators with "genuine identification information", known as real-name registration, Xinhua reports.

BBC: China approves tighter rules on internet access

China Mobile's largest rival, China Unicom, will be able to rid itself of a cumbersome, overlapping network using the CDMA standard, which is incompatible with its more popular GSM-based network, by selling it to the country's fixed-line operator, China Telecom.

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In India, where fixed-line broadband links are rare, many will get their first taste of speedy surfing over a wireless network.

ECONOMIST: After years of delay, India launches 3G telephony��sort of