China's State Council this week issed a statement saying it had judged a "new broadband wireless mobile communications network" to be "basically mature and ready for implementation."

And Chinese telecom shares climbed 7 percent in response.

"While Beijing blamed journalists for misreading its telecoms policy signals, the share moves were a sharp reminder of the notorious lack of transparency surrounding regulators' plans for the world's biggest telecoms market by number of subscribers," write the Financial Times' Mure Dickie and Justine Lau.

"Officials have for years been engaged in heated but secret debate about when and how to issue 3G licences to China's state-controlled but internationally listed operators, leaving observers desperate to know their intentions," they note.

More here from MarketWatch ... more here from Thomson Financial ... and more here from Reuters.