China Telecom Q2 profit up 12 pct, beats forecasts

HONG KONG Aug 25 (Reuters) - China Telecom Corp Ltd (0728.HK), the smallest of China's three wireless carriers, reported a 12 percent rise in second-quarter profit, beating expectations, as it aggressively promoted its 3G network to win market share.

China Telecom made a net profit of 4.81 billion yuan ($706 million) in the April-June quarter, according to Reuters calculations using company data, versus 4.3 billion yuan a year earlier and better than expectations for 3.45 billion yuan from a Reuters poll of three analysts.

Bigger rival China Mobile Ltd (0941.HK) reported second-quarter earnings that roughly matched market expectations last week, up 7 percent year on year, and bet that value-added services such as music downloads would help reignite growth. [ID:nTOE67F03P] (Reporting by Kelvin Soh; Editing by Chris Lewis)