The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is considering issuing a telecom license to the State-owned China Broadcasting Network Ltd, which, if approved, will make it the nation's fourth telecom operator.

The ministry said on its official Weibo account on Thursday that it had received the application for a basic telecom business license from CBN on March 7. The basic license is for a domestic internet data transmission business and telecommunication infrastructure service.

The ministry said it is now dealing with relevant legal procedures. If approved, CBN will become the nation's fourth telecom operator after China Mobile Communications Corp, China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd and China Telecommunications Corp.