Alibaba is launching its own mobile telecom service in June

In December last year, the Chinese government issued what is known as ‘mobile virtual network operator’ licenses to HiChina, a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba, as well as its rival JD.com, allowing them to resell mobile telecom services. This means they get to lease mobile services from the three state-run major carriers — China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile — but offer their own independent packages with data and discounts for mobile devices that may differ from what is on the market right now. Today Alibaba announced that it will start providing its telecom services, including 3G data and voice calls, in June. It is already working with the three telecom providers, and users can start registering with Alibaba in May for mobile phone numbers starting with “170.”