China Telecom<0728><CHA>, the nation's largest fixed-line operator, is likely to hold another round of negotiations on the acquisition of the Hong Kong CDMA business of PCCW Ltd<0008>, the Standard reported.

PCCW, the biggest telecom carrier in Hong Kong, owns full network coverage of the CDMA business in the city. It acquired the CDMA network for HK$76 million in 2007, and once tried to sell the service to China Telecom, the only CDMA service provider in mainland China. However, the deal failed as PCCW's selling price was too high, sources said.

A spokesman with China Telecom said the company has no plans at present to purchase CDMA business from PCCW.

China Telecom added 3.05 million CDMA mobile phone users in January this year, after it reported 3.1 million newly-subscribed users last December. By comparison, China Mobile<0941><CHL>, the country's largest telecom operator, saw its 3G subscribers reach 3.90 million in the same month.

 source:chinaknowledge