In view of a major discouragement hitting the company in its fourth-quarter results, China Unicom is now focusing on enhancing its 3G customer base, this year. It considers this expansion as big source of growth.

The telecom operator has been aiming to cross the 10 million mark in the subscriber base for its 3G mobile service, by paying around 100 Yuan per month, by the end of 2010. Daiwa Securities analyst Marvin Lo said the sloth in
3G customer base and a dip of around 10% in its substantial fixed-line service were the major factors that led to the fall in the company's fourth-quarter profits.

"This looks like slow growth for the 3G business. At the same time the fixed-line operation declined faster than expected", he said.

Unicom shared that it also raised the depreciation and amortization charges in its 3G network by 650 million Yuan in the fourth-quarter.

Unicom's Chief Financial Officer Tong Jilu said that the company has been facing a heavy pressure due to drop in profits.

Unicom reported a net profit of 222 million yuan in the fourth quarter, calculated at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.