China Mobile eyes emerging-market buys

China Mobile may buy phone companies in emerging markets once the reorganization of China’s telecom sector finishes in June, Bloomberg reported. China Mobile Chairman Wang Jianzhou said the company would be "rational" and not "aggressive" in its overseas acquisition strategy. The valuations of emerging-market operators have dropped sharply this year – the MSCI Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Index has declined 49% since January. Wang said in April that China Mobile, the world’s largest telecom company by market value, is interested in expanding in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It will likely face competition for buys from Singapore’s SingTel and Telekom Malaysia. In 2007 the company bought Pakistan’s Paktel, its first overseas buy, for US$460 million. Separately, China Mobile said it will release a handset made by Nokia compatible with TD-SCDMA, China’s homegrown 3G standard.