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Mar. 16 (NBD) - China Unicom delivered its 2017 annual fiscal report Wednesday. The company reported operating revenue of 249.02 billion yuan (39.3 billion U.S. dollars) from its major business in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 4.6 percent. Net profit attributable to shareholders was 430 million yuan (67.9 million U.S. dollars), a year-on-year growth rate of 176.4 percent.

Such achievement might be partly owed to its mixed-ownership reform.

In addition to high operating revenue, the annual growth in the number of China Unicom's 4G users in 2017 hit a record high, pushing its total number of 4G users to 175 million. Compared to its rival China Mobile's 115 million, China Unicom has maintained a higher growth rate in developing 4G users.

On the broadband service front, as of the end of 2017, China Unicom has seen 1.3 million new subscribers, sending its total number of broadband users to 77 million. In contrast, China Telecom has had 134 million while China Mobile has registered 113 million broadband subscribers, respectively. The fixed network business contributed 90.87 billion yuan (14.3 billion U.S. dollars) to China Unicom's total revenue for 2017.

Wang Xiaochu, Chairman of China Unicom, said in the earnings conference that competition in the fixed network space has been getting fierce since 2016. Though the number of broadband service subscribers didn't see negative growth last year, revenue generated from this sector was 2.6 percent less than the same period of the previous year. But China Unicom will try to improve income through providing better video contents and smart home services, instead of waging a price war in the future, Wang added.

China Unicom has undergone a mixed-ownership reform since last August. Wang noted in 2018 work arrangement conference that the company will step up efforts in internet-based operation and aims to bring its products online through new retail and boundless retail modes.

As a telecom communication service provider, China Unicom's foray into new services is eye-catching.

A China Unicom smart home experience store opened in Shanghai last December. In addition to supporting online bill payment, the store integrates tech behemoth Alibaba's newest technologies in new retail as well as a series of smart home appliances. In addition, China Unicom has opened smart home experience stores with retail giants JD and Suning.

A person close to China Unicom said those stores will be replicated in the future.

Ma Jihua, a telecom communication analyst, told NBD in a previous interview that telecom carriers have established a comprehensive sales network more than 10 years ago. China Unicom has many brick-and-mortar stores in residential communities, which would be a supplement for Alibaba, Suning and JD who want to expand offline. The core of new retail is not based on the integration of sales channel but the sharing of data.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn