[photopress:it_china_mobile_UK.jpg,full,alignright]China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile phone operator, is thinking of expanding into Europe.
It has just opened its European, Middle Eastern and African headquarters in London, aims to sell to Chinese users overseas and is considering its options. The company is considering setting up a virtual mobile network in Europe.
Henry Ge, chief representative of China Mobile UK, said his group would focus on three areas: emerging markets; overseas Chinese customers wanting to keep in touch with home; and ‘the short-term visiting market’, which includes travelling business customers and the growing number of Chinese tourists.
It is up against some very serious competition. One of the competitors being Vodafone which owns a 3.3% stake in China Mobile.
Henry Ge admitted China Mobile’s attempts to grow organically could be slow and take up to five years. Instead, he was looking to co-operate with partners with the ability to manage a robust network.
He added that China Mobile did not need to buy a domestic company to obtain a licence for the UK.
There are reports that Beijing is considering a far-reaching restructuring of China’s state-controlled telcos in the face of concerns over China Mobile’s overwhelming domestic dominance — it has a 70% market share and 369 million customers.
HenryGe said China Mobile would set low tariffs for emerging markets, seen as a key to success. Perhaps. Possibly. Maybe. But Europe is a cut-throat market with the EC calling the shots when it comes to overseas calls.
Unless China Mobile has done a special deal for the Apple iPhone — which seems unlikely — it will find that it is working in a very different market under very different conditions.
Source: Financial Times