China's rising wealth and tech-savvy consumers meant that 3G mobile phones would be a slam dunk. Unfortunately for Chinese telecoms, however, few customers seem to be interested so far.

Asian equity markets end lower Wednesday as investors lock in recent gains following an overnight fall on Wall Street.

In the wake of mixed earnings from two of China’s top telecommunications companies, analysts offer a downbeat outlook for the sector as competition grows more intense within an increasingly saturated market.

China Telecom's net income falls 34% in the January-to-September period from a year earlier.

China's largest fixed-line operator says its net income for the first half fell 29% from a year earlier because of significant costs for its new its 3G network and for marketing, as well as the loss of 9 million fixed-line subscribers.