Chinese telecom operator China Mobile plans to invest USD1.5 billion in CMPak, its wholly-owned subsidiary in Pakistan, over the next four years.

Fan Yunjun, chief executive officer of CMPak, revealed the news over a talk with Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.

Fan said that China Mobile hopes to enlarge its 3G market share in Pakistan. He said that CMPak wants to grow its operations to new heights which would provide job opportunities to youth in various fields benefiting from its future projects. At present, CMPak has 13.2 million users in the country.

There are currently six telecom operators in Pakistan, including Mobilink, subsidiary of the Egypt-based multinational company Orascom Telecom; Telenor, subsidiary of the Norwegian multinational operator Telenor; Ufone, subsidiary of the United Arab Emirates company Etisalat; Warid, subsidiary of Singapore-based SingTel; CMPak, subsidiary of China Mobile; and Instaphone.

With its entry into the Pakistani telecom market in 2007, China Mobile paid USD560 million to become the fifth largest operator in the country.