China’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications looks poised to take a stake in Hong Kong Telecommunications Ltd following rumors that Cable and Wireless, the operator’s controlling shareholder, will cut its stake before the Chinese takeover in July. Earlier reports had suggested that the company most likely to acquire a stake in Hong Kong Telecom was China United Telecommunications Corp, China’s second state-owned telecom company, but Linus Cheung, chief executive officer of Hong Kong Telecom said that we have been co-operating with MPT and such co-operation has been more intimate than with China Telecom. Analysts forecast that a deal will be struck with a Chinese company because telecommunications is seen as a strategic industry in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Telecom claims to have around 90 percent of Hong Kong’s telecom market, and employs more than 15,000 people.
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