China Mobile – the world’s largest mobile operator by subscribers – has admitted it is interested in entering the South African market but has not yet bid for MTN, the subject of takeover interest by India’s Bharti. “China Mobile has not joined the MTN bidding, but we are interested in the South African market and we are looking at various opportunities for entering that market,” Reuters reports chief executive Wang Jianzhou as commenting today following the company’s annual general meeting. Earlier this week Bloomberg reported that Bharti’s approach could spark a bidding war for MTN, citing a UBS report that suggested China Mobile, among others, could be interested in bidding for the operator.

According to Wireless Intelligence, China Mobile dominates its domestic market with approximately 385 million subscribers as of end first-quarter 2008. This is almost three times the combined customer base of Bharti and MTN. Reuters notes that China Mobile has a mixed track record of acquisitions, stating that it came close to buying emerging-markets operator Millicom International Cellular in 2006 before pulling the plug on the deal. In May 2007 it made its first and only overseas acquisition to date, buying Pakistan’s Paktel Ltd from Millicom for US$460 million. China Mobile was also rumoured last year to be eyeing MTN, but denied at the time that a deal was being considered. In February, China Mobile opened an EMEA headquarters in London, stating that emerging markets in Africa and the Middle East are priorities for the operator this year.