Marbridge Daily

China's Three Main Telcos Add 27 Mln 5G Subs in December 2022

Marbridge Consulting, 1/29/23

The listed arms of China's three main telecom operators have announced their subscriber totals for the month of December 2022, including a combined net increase of approximately 26.89 mln 5G package subscribers in China, boosting their combined 5G package subscriber base to approximately 1.095 bln. As of the end of December, 5G package subscribers accounted for 68.5% and 63.0% of the total mobile subscriber bases of China Telecom and China Mobile, respectively.

China Mobile

China Mobile (0941.HK; 600941.SH) reported a net gain of 0.33 mln mobile subscribers during the month, raising the telecom operator's total mobile user base to 975.01 mln. China Mobile increased its 5G package subscriber base by 18.60 mln to reach a total of 614.01 mln.

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 saw a net gain of 2.23 mln fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) in December, raising its total fixed-line broadband user base to 272.17 mln.

China Telecom

China Telecom (0728.HK; 601728.SH) saw a net increase of just 0.10 mln mobile subscribers in December, raising its total to 391.18 mln, of which 267.96 mln were 5G terminal users. During the month, the operator's 5G user base jumped by 5.02 mln subscribers.

China Telecom lost 0.41 mln fixed-line telephone subs in December, reducing its total to 104.95.

China Telecom reported an increase of 0.27 mln fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) during the month, boosting its total to 180.90 mln.

China Unicom

China Unicom (0762.HK; 600050.SH) reported that as of the end of December 2022, its aggregate number of "Big Connectivity" subscribers reached 861.74 mln, up 8.02 mln month-on-month. China Unicom's "Big Connectivity" category is comprised of the operator's combined total aggregate mobile billing subscribers, fixed-line telephone subscribers, fixed-line broadband subscribers, Internet-of-things terminal connections, and networking leased line subscribers. Of this total, 212.73 mln were 5G package subscribers, representing a net gain of 3.27 mln 5G package subscribers during the month, and 385.54 mln were Internet-of-things terminal connections, up 9.13 mln month-on-month.

China Unicom also reported that its number of customers served by virtual 5G industry private network for the month of December was 3,805, up 389 month-on-month. A virtual 5G industry private network is a high-quality private network based on the public 5G network provided to industry customers to satisfy their business and security needs. It is a core carrier for offering differentiated and partially self-operated network services. Virtual 5G industry private network is a key metric in the government's "5G Applications 'Sailing' Action Plan (2021-2023)."

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

Keywords: wireless national statistics China Telecom China Mobile China Unicom Internet broadband telecom mobile subscribers 5G broadband subscribers 0728.HK 0762.HK 600050.SH 601728.SH 600941.SH fixed-line subscribers