Chinese state-owned telecoms company China Mobile is considering investing in South Africa as well as four other countries as it looks to expand its global operations.
China Mobile is the world’s largest telecommunications company with approximately 703 million subscribers (as of November 2012) and 181,000 employees.
A Morning Whistle report released yesterday (Sunday) identified South Africa as one of the countries to be invested in, alongside Brazil, Germany, North Korea and Portugal.
Wang Jianzhou, Chairman of China Mobile, said the telecoms company has been considering expanding its global operations since March last year. China Mobile has reportedly invited consulting firms to bid to do research work on potential prospects.
China Mobile had stalled in its previous attempts at expansion due to high prices. “We saw opportunities, but the prices are far too high. That’s why China Mobile has made little progress in overseas expansion in recent years,” said Jianzhou.
China Mobile obtained the Pakistani-based mobile operator Paktel, now called CMPak, in a deal worth approximately R2.5 billion (US$284 million) in 2007.
