China Telecom, the country’s largest fixed-line operator by revenues, is stepping up its overseas expansion through a deal that will give it access to AT&T’s networks in the US and possibly other regions of the world.

Under an agreement signed on Wednesday, the two groups plan to broaden their long-running partnership to offer virtual private networks and other cross-border services to corporate customers at lower costs and higher speed. The deal comes as the increasing internationalisation of Chinese companies is putting growing pressure on the country’s telecoms groups to expand their corporate service offering beyond their own borders, and as China Telecom has indicated greater ambitions in the US market.

“We are opening up our network in the US to China Telecom,” said Roman Pacewicz, senior vice-president of marketing and global strategy at AT&T Business Solutions. This will enable the Chinese company to serve its corporate customers in the US market by using AT&T’s assets just as the largest US telecoms group by revenues does in China by using China Telecom’s assets.