Maverick China Research - Maverick China Research

It has been reported that China Mobile is looking to acquire Millicom International Cellular (MIC), an international mobile operator serving emerging markets in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. It is interesting that China Mobile is opting to invest in underdeveloped markets as opposed to purchasing one of the struggling US or European operators (such as Sprint and British Telecom). Does this signify that they are confident in their in-house abilities to continue domination of the Chinese mobile market and use their China-accumulated knowledge in these emerging markets? If they didn’t feel confident in their own abilities, they would probably have chosen to invest in a US or European operator that has the experience in technology and services and management that could allow China Mobile to maintain market dominance whenever the telco operator market is opened to foreign companies.