China’s third largest mobile operator is coming to the UK to serve the 600,000 Chinese people who live in the country and the hundreds of thousands of Chinese visitors who come to Britain each year.

Setting up as a mobile virtual network operators (MVNO), a company that provides services directly to their own customers but does not own key network assets, China Telecom plans to sell text, data and prepaid calling to British-based Chinese people and businesses later this year.

China Telecom will set up its service with Everything Everywhere, which operates under both the Orange and T-Mobile brands. The partnership marks the first time that a Chinese telecom operator has launched MVNO services outside China

Revealing why China Telecom chose to partner with Everything Everywhere, Yan Ou, Managing Director of China Telecom, said: “Entering the UK mobile market is a strategic move for China Telecom (Europe). We selected Everything Everywhere based on the strength of its network, and Transatel’s proven track record of getting MVNOs up and running quickly and efficiently. We are keen to launch the service in the UK as soon as possible as there is a real gap in the market for the provision of tailored mobile services and competitive tariffs aimed at the growing Chinese population in the UK.”

China Telecom hopes to have the service up and running by the end of March.