China Trade Information

UK mobile phone operator Vodafone Group PLC is keen to widen its China operations following the Chinese government’s proposed restructuring of the telecoms industry, which is currently dominated by a few key players.

Vodafone’s Chief Executive Arun Sarin told sources that while the company cannot expect a majority stake in any Chinese wireless operator due to government regulations, he is confident that Vodafone’s 3% stake in China Mobile<941><CHL>, China’s largest wireless operator, will be instrumental in guiding the company’s China investments. The deal, bought at US$3 billion in 2000, has since grown to US$13 billion.

Sarin also said mentioned India as Vodafone’s key partner in network sharing, after securing 67% interest in Hutchison Essar, India’s fourth largest wireless telecommunications services provider. Vodafone is now looking at partnership possibilities with a number of Indian operators, after shelving a proposed deal with Bharti Airtel.

African expansion is also on the horizon, if Vodafone manages to gain controlling stake of South Africa’s largest mobile operator, Vodacom, according to Sarin. 

Sources reported that the upcoming revamp of China’s telecommunications infrastructure could see the disintegration of China Mobile’s smaller rival, China Unicom<600050><762><CHU>, and splitting of its mobile assets between the country’s two fixed-line operators, China Telecom<728><CHA> and China Netcom<906><CN>.

Tags: China-Mobile, China-Netcom, China-Telecom, China-Unicom

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