China Telecom appoints Euro RSCG as AOR

Agency sources believe that the six-way pitch included Bates, Leo Burnett and two local agencies. Chinese agency Hexinchangrong was the incumbent for the account.

Euro RSCG is charged with managing China Telecom’s branding, strategy and communications following the company’s high-profile acquisition of China Unicom’s CDMA business.

The acquisition, which took place in June, was divided into two parts, giving China Telecom the rights to China Unicom’s CDMA services and infrastructure for RmB 110 billion (US$15.85 billion).

Although the account’s price tag has not been released, agency sources say that the business is a sizable win because the brand looks to have higher exposure throughout China to capitalise on their 3G license win and promote its additional services following its CDMA business acquisition.

Within the market, China Telecom is licensed to operate on the CDMA2000 standard - which is also popular in the United States - while China Unicom operates on the WCDMA standard and China Mobile is licensed for the home-grown TD-SCDMA network.