BT sees $250 mln revenue from China in 3 years

BEIJING, Sep 6 (Reuters) British telecoms giant BT Group Plc expects to rake in annual revenues of 0 million from China and double its investment and staff there in three years, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

BT plans help China-based clients plug into a new global business broadband network, through partners such as Netcom, CEO Ben Verwaayen said, declining to say how much BT has ploughed into the world's biggest telecoms market.

The former UK telecoms monopoly now posts direct revenue of tens of millions of U.S. dollars per year from China, Verwaayen told reporters without elaborating.

If the firm meets its target, the China business would account for less than 1 percent of expected global revenue of 20 billion pounds ( billion) in the fiscal year ending March 2007, according to Reuters Estimates.

''That's what we aim for,'' Verwaayen said.

''In three years' time, BT will generate a quarter billion U.S.

dollars from China and double our effort in investment and people.'' Globally, BT is counting on new services such as broadband to compensate for falling fixed-line revenue.

China's fast-expanding telecoms arena boasts 366.6 million fixed-line and 431.8 million mobile subscribers as of the end of July, official data shows.

But foreign carriers have been left largely on the sidelines as stiff regulations make investment difficult.

BT entered China in 1995 and partnered with fixed-line operators including China Netcom Corp.

The company now focuses on big corporate clients in China, same as in India, said Bill Lam, BT's vice president for northeast Asia.

BT has also said it aims to boost its revenues from India to 0 million in the next three years from less than 0 million.

21ST CENTURY? From late November, BT will begin transferring customers in Britain to its 10 billion pound ( billion) ''21st Century Network'', which it says can deliver great volumes of data at increased speeds.

''It will enable us to do many many things that we have not done before,'' said Lam.

The firm's previous efforts in China had been limited to various small initiatives, executives said without elaborating.

Rival AT&T Inc. is now the only major foreign phone operator that has a telecoms services joint venture in China. But the U.S. firm has been confined to offering services to customers in Shanghai's eastern financial district.

REUTERS DKS RN1749