China Telecom Corp., the biggest fixed-line phone operator in the Mainland, may report its slowest profit growth in almost four years as competition from mobile operators intensified, Bloomberg reported. Chairman Wang Xiaochu has turned to high-speed Internet services and interactive television ventures to bolster earnings after cell-phone companies cut rates. At the end of June, about 33 percent of China's population owned a cell phone, compared with 28 percent who had a fixed-line subscription, according to the Ministry of Information Industry. ``The second-half outlook remains tough,'' said Bloomberg, quoted Kelvin Ho, an analyst at Nomura International (Hong Kong) Ltd. as saying, ``China Telecom will rely more on broadband for growth. Wireless operators have pre-empted competition by new entrants by cutting tariffs.'' China's fixed-line operators are struggling to increase customers as more people turn to mobile phones. The nation added 14.9 million fixed-line users in the first six months of the year, compared with 32 million mobile subscribers, according to government statistics. China, the world's largest mobile market by users, had 426 million mobile customers and 365 million fixed- line subscribers by the end of June.