China Telecom Europe has officially launched CTExcelbiz, its pay-as-you-go mobile service in the UK.

The service, which marks the first time a Chinese telecom operator has launched an MVNO service outside China, is initially aimed at the UK’s local Chinese community – thought to number around half a million people.

The company is offering Chinese language voicemail services, bilingual Chinese-English customer services and unlimited free calls between CTExcelbiz users.

CTE is also hoping to profit from Chinese visitors arriving in the UK for this summer’s Olympic Games; CTE managing director Yan Ou said that it was rolling out a Chinese language information service hotline aimed specifically at tourists.

CTE partnered with Transatel to help with the launch and is using Everything Everywhere’s network.

“We look forward to expanding our international relationship with Everything Everywhere to launch in other European markets over the coming months,” said Ou.

In an exclusive interview with European Communications last year, Ou said France and Germany were the company’s next targets. Click here to read the interview in full.