China Telecom has revealed plans to sell mobile services in the US under its own brand, initially as an MVNO.
The operator will target the services at Chinese expats and students, as well as frequent travellers between the two countries, and plans to offer services from early next year, the company toldBloomberg.
China Telecom Americas is in talks with potential wholesale partners, and will soon choose one. If there proves to be enough demand, the company may consider setting up its own infrastructure.
But a plan to deploy its own mobile infrastructure could draw opposition from lawmakers, as underlined by the fact that Huawei was recently excluded from tendering for a national public safety network project due to security concerns.
As well as mobile services, the company is also considering making substantial wireline investments in the US or other North American countries.
The potential investments form part of a strategy to expand China Telecom's wireline operations in the US beyond big business, to also target consumers in areas with large Chinese communities.