LONDON and BEIJING -
China Telecom, the country's largest fixed-line
telephone company, has opened a branch in London,
which signals a significant overseas market
expansion by China's telecommunications giants.
After China Telecom's move, China Mobile,
the world's largest mobile-telephone operator by
number of users, said it is also looking for
opportunities to tap emerging markets worldwide.
China Telecom, which is listed on the Hong
Kong Stock
Exchange, opened on Tuesday
its new branch as a strategic step in its plans
for overseas development.
Speaking at the
ceremony, which also marks the launch of China
Telecom's Frankfurt and London international
network nodes, Leng Rongquan, the company's
executive deputy general manager, described the
move as "customer extension, services extension,
and networks extension".
He added: "China
Telecom (Europe) wants to play a major role in
promoting trade between Europe and Asia. We want
to better serve our customers with secure,
reliable and cost-effective telecommunications
solutions."
The founding of China Telecom
(Europe), he said, would increase the company's
competitive edge in the international
telecommunications industry and improve its brand
values.
China Telecom serves some 220
million fixed-line telephone subscribers and 27
million broadband users.
The company
pledges to continue its aggressive expansion into
overseas markets, to provide better worldwide
communication services for its customers,
especially for Chinese companies outside the
country.
Brian Shaw, managing director of
UK Trade and Investment, welcomed China's largest
basic telephone operator to Britain, saying the
move indicated that the country had a favorable
environment for Chinese enterprises to explore
overseas markets and enter Europe.
The
European expansion is one aspect of the group's
strategic growth plans and follows its move into
North America, the Asia-Pacific region and other
key locations in Central Asia.
Over the
years, the company has improved its overall
service capacities between Europe and North
America and China by collaborating with telecom
operators, Internet content providers and other
partners on the basis of mutual benefit.
The self-owned and -managed
telecommunications network connecting Europe to
China will also enable China Telecom (Europe) to
develop value-added Internet services vigorously
and offer tailored information and communication
technology (ICT) services for multinational
corporations.
China Telecom (Europe) is
committed to the creation of an "Information Silk
Road" that offers seamless information-technology
services among Europe, Asia and the US, said Leng.
As a result, the company now offers a
one-stop shop for personalized, integrated
communication solutions for European, North
American and Asian customers.
Two of the
latest offerings by China Telecom (Europe) are the
CTExcelink and CTExcelbiz, which provide secure,
high-speed packages for businesses, large and
small.
In Beijing, China Mobile, which is
also listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, says
it has its eye on certain emerging global markets.
"If we finally make our mind up to go
abroad, we will concentrate on emerging and
developing markets, such as in Asia, Africa or
Latin America," said Wang Jianzhou, president of
China Mobile.
He ruled out the possibility
of squeezing into the packed European and North
American markets, where the penetration rate of
cellular phones is already high.
Wang
refused to disclose more details of the plan, such
as its partners, a timetable and which countries
may be involved.
In July, China Mobile
reportedly entered a failed bid for
Luxembourg-based Millicom, which has networks in
16 emerging markets, including Latin America and
Africa. However, the company has never confirmed
the bid.
According to Wang, however, China
Mobile has never stopped weighing the pros and
cons of the international market. There have
always been different views within the company on
whether to expand overseas.
Those who
oppose the potential expansion argue that it is
risky and besides, vast rural areas of China
remain untapped and offer great potential for
further growth. Why bother to take risks abroad?
"The reason China Mobile should start
forming such plans is to secure both present and
future [profit-making] opportunities," said Wang.
Wang said that as the world's largest
cellular operator by value, China Mobile is
experienced in setting up infrastructure and
providing wireless communication services for
areas with harsh natural conditions, another
reason the company would be comfortable tapping
less developed markets and regions.
China
Mobile Hong Kong acquired Hong Kong's
fourth-largest mobile operator, China Resources
Peoples Telephone, early this year, and has given
mobile service access to some countryside parks
and areas in the special administrative region, to
meet demands from tourists.
Yang Yuanqing,
chairman of the Lenovo Group, advised that Chinese
companies' international business expansion should
be firmly backed by solid business growth in the
domestic market. As China's top personal-computer
maker, Lenovo bought out IBM's PC division two
years ago.
China Mobile's mobile
subscribers totaled 274 million by the first half
of this year, with net profit reaching 30.17
billion yuan (US$3.8 billion).
The
cellular carrier will further expand the capacity
of its second-generation (2G) networks to cater
for surging local demand. "Although the 3G era is
coming, we are still attracting 4 million new 2G
users per month. Therefore, we will continue
expanding our 2G mobile capacity to develop the
local market," said Wang.
