China Mobile Ltd. the world’s biggest phone carrier by subscribers plans further acquisitions abroad, particularly in Asia, the company’s chairman said Monday. While China Mobile’s main focus remains on the domestic market, it is also looking to tap opportunities outside the world’s most populous nation, Wang Jianzhou said. “We would also like to expand internationally in the emerging market,” Wang told reporters at an industry event in Geneva. “I think the first step is in Asia.”
China Mobile bought a majority stake two years ago in Paktel Ltd., then Pakistan’s fifth largest mobile carrier, in a deal valued at $460 million. Since then the Chinese company has bought the rest of the company, renamed it Zong and invested heavily, expanding the number of mobile base stations to 4,500 from 800. “The company runs very well,” said Wang, acknowledging that similar purchases might be harder to find now the economic downturn has driven down share prices, making sellers less inclined to strike a deal. “Two years ago telecom assets in developing countries were very expensive but today there has been a very big decline in price,” he said. “But there’s no reason for owners to sell their assets at the low price.”
“We try to find some new opportunities but it’s not that easy,” said Wang. Meanwhile, China Mobile still has room to expand domestically despite already having some 500 million subscribers at home. “We still have a large market for communication in rural areas,” said Wang, noting that outside of large cities such as Beijing and Shanghai less than half of all Chinese consumers have a mobile phone.The company is also looking to offer new services, capitalizing on the rollout in China earlier this year of third-generation networks.
Already a quarter of China Mobile’s revenue comes from data applications, Wang said.
