Submitted by 2point6billion.com Blog

In addition to competing for natural resources in Africa, India and China have now set their sights on mobile phone subscribers. Leading mobile companies in both China and India - China Mobile and  Bharti Airtel are fiercely trying to acquire Africa’s MTN Group Ltd, the continent’s biggest mobile-phone operator, China Knowledge reported.

China and India have often been compared as the rest of the world adjusts to the presence of new economic powers, but rarely have representatives of the two nations competed head to head on a deal. China’s government-controlled entities have invested and lent billions of dollars to African countries in recent years, while private companies in India have concentrated more on shopping outside the nation’s borders.

According to MTN’s statement to its shareholders, it has started to negotiate with Bharti Airtel, India’s largest mobile-phone carrier, on the acquisition. But analysts believed China Mobile as well as China Telecom will probably become the two strongest competitors against Bharti Airtel. “There are many phone operators in Africa,” Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile’s president told reporters in Hong Kong. The Beijing-based parent company of China Mobile Ltd. “hasn’t participated in the bidding” for MTN Group Ltd., Wang added, who didn’t say whether the Chinese company is interested in making an offer later, reported Bloomberg.

The two companies are believed to be eyeing a 51% stake in MTN, at a value of around US$19 billion, which would create the world’s sixth-largest mobile company with 130 million subscribers across 21 countries. Winning the bid will make either company a global player. MTN has a large presence in Africa and the Middle East. The bulk of its subscribers are in South Africa, Nigeria, Iran, Ghana, Syria, Cameroon, and Uganda. It is Africa’s largest mobile phone operator.

MTN’s major competitor is the Vodacom Group - South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator which is jointly owned by Britain’s Vodafone and Telkom, South Africa’s largest fixed-line operator. Vodafone also has a majority stake in India’s third-largest mobile carrier, unlisted Vodafone Essar, which competes directly with Bharti Airtel.