Although the battle between traditional State-owned telecom operators and the new wave of virtual network operators - most of which are private companies - is only just starting, the VNOs are already poaching senior managers and experienced staff from the established players.

The three State-owned telecom carriers - China Mobile Ltd, China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd and China Telecom Corp Ltd - have been losing key executives to upstart competitors.

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The "brain drain" accelerated after the Chinese government issued licenses for mobile VNOs starting in December.

Those licenses let private domestic companies offer repackaged mobile services. Essentially, private capital has now officially entered the basic telecom services market to compete directly with traditional telecom giants.

Although several senior officials from the big three telecom carriers jumped ship to VNOs, Chinese media have focused on Li Gang, China Unicom's vice-president. Li, who tendered his resignation on Feb 17, will leave China Unicom and join a small, Beijing-based VNO immediately.

China Daily wasn't able to contact Li on Thursday.

But Wen Baoqiu, spokesman of China Unicom, said the company has no information to disclose at the moment. An official at China Unicom's marketing department, who asked not to be identified, confirmed that Li had resigned. The official said Li is awaiting regulators' approval for his move.

"Ever since VNOs started gearing up to offer mobile services, they've seen talent plays a critical role in winning the battle for the future.

"Telecom carriers happen to employ a lot of the experienced people VNOs need," Xiang Ligang, a Beijing-based telecom expert, said.

Before Li's departure, Zhou Youmeng, general manager of China Unicom's marketing department, surprised industry watchers by leaving his post for the vice-presidency of Shenzhen Aisidi Co Ltd, a nationwide mobile phone distributor that's received a VNO license.

He Ning, assistant general manager of China Telecom Terminal Co, resigned from his post and joined Funtalk China Holdings Ltd, another aspiring VNO.

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