Marbridge Daily

5G User Base of China's Three Main Telcos Reaches 361 Mln in February 2021

Marbridge Consulting, 3/22/21

The listed arms of China's three main telecom operators have announced their subscriber totals for the month of February 2021, including a combined net loss of nearly 3.5 mln mobile subscribers in China, dropping their combined mobile subscriber base to just over 1.596 bln.

As of the end of February 2021, the 5G subscriber totals of China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom reached 173.17 mln, 103.37 mln, and 84.54 mln, respectively, comprising 18.5%, 29.3%, and 27.6% of their total mobile subscriber bases.

China Mobile

China Mobile (0941.HK) reported a net decline of 3.69 mln mobile subscribers during the month of February, dropping the telecom operator's total mobile user base to 937.17 mln. Of this total, 781.33 mln were 4G subscribers and 173.17 mln were 5G subscribers, representing net increases of 1.71 mln and 4.20 mln, respectively, compared to the previous month.

China Mobile defines a 5G package customer as a mobile customer who has subscribed to 5G tariff plans. Customers sharing 5G tariff plans without subscription are not included in the operator's 5G subscriber totals.

China Mobile added 2.01 mln new fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) in February, increasing its total fixed-line broadband user base to 215.70 mln.

China Telecom

China Telecom (0728.HK) saw a net increase of 0.25 mln mobile subscribers in February, raising its total to 352.80 mln, of which 103.37 mln were 5G package subscribers. During the month, the operator's 5G user base rose by 6.20 mln subscribers.

China Telecom lost 0.19 mln fixed-line telephone subs in February, reducing its total to 107.62 mln.

China Telecom added 0.56 mln fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) during the month, increasing its total to 160.43 mln.

China Unicom

China Unicom (0762.HK; 600050.SH) reported a net decline of 0.02 mln mobile billing subscribers during the month of February, decreasing its total mobile billing user base to 306.34 mln. Of the total, 84.54 mln were 5G subscribers, up by 6.59 mln from a total of 77.95 mln at the end of the prior month.

China Unicom lost 0.02 mln fixed-line telephone subscribers in February, dropping its total to 47.30 mln.

The operator added 0.26 mln fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) in February, lifting its total to 87.16 mln.

User Base Market Share by Operator

China Mobile's share of the nation's total mobile subscriber base as of the end of February 2021 shrank further to 58.71%, compared to 58.81% at the end of January 2021 and 59.51% at the end of February 2020. China Telecom's share grew to 22.10%, up from 22.04% at the end of January 2021 and 20.87% at the end of February 2020, and China Unicom's share of 19.19% was up from 19.15% at the end of January 2021, but down from 19.62% at the end of February 2020.

Mobile Subscriber Stats for China's Three Main Carriers (Unit: Mln)

Keywords: China Telecom China Mobile China Unicom fixed-line broadband telecom 4G mobile subscribers 5G broadband subscribers 0728.HK 0762.HK 0941.HK 600050.SH fixed-line subscribers