CHINA Telecom, the country’s largest fixed-line operator, said Monday that it is in talks with five potential long-term strategic investors to buy stakes after the company receives government approval to enter the mobile phone business.

“We’re at preliminary stages of discussions,” William Li, a senior manager of investor relations, said in a phone interview from Hong Kong. “We’re waiting for regulatory approval for our entry into the mobile phone business before we accept strategic investors.”

The chairman of China Telecom, Wang Xiaochu, has applied for one of three licenses that the government has said it will issue for third-generation (3G) wireless services, which allow faster downloads of music and video, as growth in fixed-line customers slows. The number of mobile subscribers in China has risen almost three times as fast as fixed-line users in the past six months.

The government has not set a timetable for granting licenses for 3G services, or said how many licenses it plans to issue. China Telecom is a top candidate to get one of the licenses, Edward Yu, chief executive of the technology market research firm Analysys International, said in a phone interview in Beijing. “China Telecom has the best customer base and service in China next to China Mobile,” Yu said. “It will get a mobile license.” Li, of China Telecom, refused to name the potential investors. NTT DoCoMo, France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Verizon Communications and Singapore Telecommunications are competing to buy a stake in China Telecom, according to reports published in Hong Kong.

Foreign investors are not allowed by the government to offer telecom services directly on the mainland and can only invest in Chinese operators. Vodafone Group has taken a 3.3 percent stake in China Mobile, the nation’s largest mobile operator. It is listed in Hong Kong.

China added 17.5 million fixed-line users in the first eight months of the year, compared with 44.1 million mobile subscribers, according to government statistics. The nation, the world’s largest mobile market by users, had 437.5 million mobile phone customers and 367.9 million fixed-line subscribers by the end of August.(SD-Agencies)