China Telecom launches British mobile venture

Telecoms giant China Telecom is launching a mobile virtual network in Britain in partnership with Everything Everywhere, targeting Chinese residents and visitors, the British company said Wednesday.

"The partnership marks the first time a Chinese telecom operator has launched MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) services outside China," Everything Everywhere said in a statement.

The China Telecom (Europe) venture will be launched in the first quarter of this year, and will specifically target Chinese residents and businesses in Britain, as well as visitors such as students and tourists, it said.

Everything Everywhere, which operates the shared T-Mobile and Orange network and describes itself as Britain's biggest communications company, said the deal would take its portfolio of MVNO partnerships to 24.

State-owned China Telecom is the nation's top fixed-line operator and the third for mobile networks.

Everything Everywhere was formed in 2010 through the merger of the British mobile network operations of Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom.

(c) 2012 AFP