ChinaTelecomintalkswithforeigncompanies

ChinaTelecomsaidyesterdayitwasintalkswithfiveoverseastelecomsgroupsinterestedintakingstrategicstakesinthecountry‘slargestfixed－lineoperator。

ChinaTelecomistheonlybig－fourtelecomsoperatoronthemainlandthathasnotteamedupwithaforeigncompany。WangXiaochu，chairmanandchiefexecutive，saidthecompanywouldnotpickapartneruntilitwasgranteda3Gmobilelicence。

Thereisnorushforustofindapartner。Ourvaluehasnotbeenfullyrepresentedbecauseoftheuncertaintyover3G，saidMrWang，whodeclinedtorevealwithwhichcompaniesChinaTelecomwasintalks。

ForeigncompaniesareeagertotapChina－theworld‘slargestmobilemarket－astheyseekgrowthoutsidetheirsaturatedhomemarkets。

AlthoughtheyareonlyallowedtotakeminoritystakesinChinesetelecomscompanies，havingalocalpartnercouldgiveaforeignoperatorbetteraccesstoothertelecomsprojectsinChina。

SKTelecom，SouthKorea‘stopmobilecompany，thisweekannouncedthefirstalliancebetweenanoverseasoperatorandtheChinesegovernmenttohelpChinadevelopitshome－grown3Gstandard，knownasTD－SCDMA。

ThenewscametwomonthsafterSKboughtbondsconvertibleintoa6。7percentstakeinChinaUnicom，thecountry‘ssecond－largestwirelessoperator。

VodafonehasasmallstakeinChinaMobile，thetopwirelessoperator。ChinaNetcom‘sforeignpartnersareHongKong‘sPCCWandSpain‘sTelefonica。

Beijingisexpectedtoissue3Glicencesthisyearorearlynextyear。HavingamobilelicencewouldhelpChinaTelecomtoregaingrowthmomentum，especiallyafteritannounceditsslowesthalf－yeargrowthsince2002asmorepeopleinChinachosewirelessphonesoverfixedlines。