BERLIN — Virtual mobile network operators — those who buy and resell calling, text and Internet services from actual network operators — have come and gone.
Nevertheless, China Telecom, the Chinese equivalent of the former Ma Bell in the United States or BT in Britain, said this month that it would introduce a similar service in Britain.
By the end of March, the company said, it plans to sell prepaid calling, text and data service to 600,000 Chinese living in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as the 600,000 who visit Britain each year.
Branded mobile resellers, like Virgin Mobile in Britain, are not new. There are about 400 virtual operators in Europe. Together, they have about 15 percent of the Continent’s mobile market, according to Transatel, a virtual mobile operator based in Paris.
But China Telecom, the No.3 mobile operator in China, behind China Mobile and China Unicom, may belong to a new breed of big, branded resellers that could start upsetting the status quo in a number of places, including Britain, where 11 million people already buy service from resellers, not network operators, said Cesar Bachelet, an analyst at Analysys Mason in Cambridge, England.
“So far, operators based in Asia have generally been slow to capitalize on mobile virtual network opportunities abroad,” Mr. Bachelet said. “We believe that it is only a matter of time before operators from various Asian countries target their compatriots.”
China Telecom is starting its British business before the London Summer Olympics, when organizers expect 350,000 Chinese visitors to attend the Games. China Telecom said it would open similar operations in France, Germany and Italy by the end of 2014.
Philippa Chan, a spokeswoman for China Telecom, said a large population of Chinese lived in Britain, part of an estimated two million there and in France, Germany, Spain and Italy. “The 2012 Olympic Games will be a huge opportunity for China Telecom,” she said.
China Telecom is the biggest, but not the first, operator to go after expatriates. In Belgium, three operators, Chiama, Ay Yildiz and MobiSud, serve the expat Italian, Turkish and Moroccan communities, respectively. Chiama and Ay Yildiz are run by KPN, the Dutch network operator. Mobisud belongs to Maroc Telecom, a Moroccan operator.
Two Turkish carriers, Turkcell and Turk Telekom, set up virtual operators in Germany, which has more than three million ethnic Turks. Turkcell began its prepaid service on Deutsche Telekom’s network last March. By December, it had 200,000 customers.
“We believe in the future of serving the sizable Turkish population in Germany and Europe,” said Lale Saral Develioglu, the chief international business officer for Turkcell. “The operation is at the start-up stage. However, its contribution to Turkcell Group’s financials is expected to grow.”
In Britain, China Telecom’s service will run on Everything Everywhere, a 50-50 joint venture of France Télécom and Deutsche Telekom that is the market leader there. Everything Everywhere is already host to 23 other virtual network operators, including Virgin, Cable & Wireless, and expat services like Econet, which is aimed at Zimbabweans.
Marc Overton, the Everything Everywhere vice president for wholesale, said China Telecom planned to disclose its British calling rates, retail outlets and brand name soon; his company had decided it could not serve the Chinese niche as effectively as a Chinese carrier could.
China Telecom’s virtual operator represents “better servicing of Chinese travelers from a brand they know and services they want,” Mr. Overton said.
John Strand, a mobile analyst in Copenhagen, said Everything Everywhere would make sure that China Telecom did not undercut it in Britain.
“The European operators will not allow the Chinese to make a lot of money in Britain,” Mr. Strand said.
Mr. Overton said China Telecom’s calling rates would indeed not be lower than Everything Everywhere’s rates. “This is not a value play, this is not a cheap-and-cheerful service,” Mr. Overton said, referring to China Telecom’s local-language operation. “This is a grown-up, adult approach to better serving Chinese customers abroad.”