As China Mobile, the world's largest cellphone company by number of users, has provisionally agreed to buy 66.5% of China Resources Peoples Telephone in Hong Kong for US$290 million, it is also considering the purchase of a controlling stake in SmarTone Telecommunications Holdings, according to media reports. A successful purchase of Peoples Telephone, the fifth-biggest cellphone company in Hong Kong, from its controlling shareholder, the state-owned China Resources (Holdings) Co, would give China Mobile a foothold in Hong Kong, pitting it against five other mobile operators. Talks with SmarTone, which is seen as a move for China Mobile to obtain a 3G license which SmarTone holds, were in preliminary stages, the South China Morning Post reported.
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