(Yicai Global) Aug. 13 -- China United Network Communications Group and China Telecommunications, two of the country's three biggest mobile operators, have saved CNY40 billion (USD5.8 billion) in the first half of this year by building fifth-generation wireless infrastructure together.

The pair can save considerable sums in base station operation, network maintenance, and electricity costs, China Unicom's Chairman Wang Xiaochu wrote yesterday in the Beijing-based firm's financial report.

It was China Unicom that suggested joining forces. "China Telecom had doubts in the beginning, but both of us have benefited from our partnership in the second half of last year and the first half of this year and thus are confident to expand our cooperation and reach a win-win situation."

China Unicom spent CNY12.6 billion in the first half to reach 5G coverage in more than 50 key cities. By now, the company's network includes 210,000 5G base stations, about half of which are self-built.

The two firms strive to team with China Mobile, the third mobile carrier, to upgrade rural areas' internet connections. It should be more efficient for the three firms to cooperate in rural areas because these regions have fewer users and less traffic than cities, said Wang.

China Unicom is also coming up with solutions to the Donald Trump administration's threat to block Chinese telecoms companies' operations in the States. The firm has not yet received a formal notice about this though, according to Wang.

"We have response plans," said Wang. Besides the US business, also that of Latin America should be transferred to third-party countries, he explained.

Moreover, there is not much to lose. The scale of China Unicom's US revenue was about USD110 million, making up less than one percent of the firm's total income, according to Wang. “We mainly provide services to US firms doing business in China and Chinese companies doing business in the US, so our assets in the US are not large, neither is our revenue there."

Editor: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine