China Mobile has confirmed it has plans to participate in Pakistan's upcoming 3G spectrum auction.
The operator's chairman, Wang Jianzhou toldChina Daily that the company will roll out W-CDMA services in Pakistan if it wins the auction.
China Mobile already has a 2G presence in Pakistan, having acquired what is now China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak) from Millicom International in 2007 for $284 million.
Pakistan is currently the operator's only overseas market, But Wang said the company plans use its experience in the nation as a model for plans to expand into more emerging markets.
The company is also exploring opportunities to buy minority stakes in European or North American operators.
China Mobile has now invested over $1.5 billion in the Pakistani market, and while CMPak is currently only the fifth largest of six telecom operators, CMPak's Zong brand is the fastest-growing by net additions.
The competitive nature of China's telecom sector has left the nation's operators anxious to pursue international forays. China Telecom is preparing to launch mobile services in the UKas well as the US as an MVNO. China Unicom, meanwhile, agreed last year to increase its stake in Spain-headquartered Telefonica via a share swap deal.