Marbridge Daily

China's Three Main Telcos Add 26 Mln 5G Subs in February 2023

Marbridge Consulting, 3/22/23

The listed arms of China's three main telecom operators have announced their subscriber totals for the month of February 2023, including a combined net increase of approximately 25.82 mln 5G package subscribers in China, boosting their combined 5G package subscriber base to over 1.137 bln. As of the end of February, 5G package subscribers accounted for 70.3% and 65.3% 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 3.14 mln mobile subscribers during the month, raising the telecom operator's total mobile user base to 978.65 mln. China Mobile increased its 5G package subscriber base by 16.66 mln to reach a total of 639.13 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 2.94 mln fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) in February, raising its total fixed-line broadband user base to 277.64 mln.

China Telecom

China Telecom (0728.HK; 601728.SH) saw a net increase of 3.40 mln mobile subscribers in February, raising its total to 395.71 mln, of which 278.18 mln were 5G terminal users. During the month, the operator's 5G user base rose by 5.19 mln subscribers.

China Telecom lost 0.36 mln fixed-line telephone subs in February, reducing its total to 104.34 mln.

China Telecom reported an increase of 1.01 mln fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) during the month, boosting its total to 182.88 mln.

China Unicom

China Unicom (0762.HK; 600050.SH) reported that as of the end of February 2023, its aggregate number of "Big Connectivity" subscribers reached 887.33 mln, up 14.58 mln month-on-month and up 25.58 mln since the end of 2022. 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, 219.76 mln were 5G package subscribers, representing a net gain of 3.97 mln month-on-month and 7.03 mln since the end of 2022, and 406.56 mln were Internet-of-things terminal connections, up 11.15 mln month-on-month and up 21.02 mln since the end of 2022.

China Unicom also reported that its number of customers served by virtual 5G industry private network for the month of February was 4,228, up 216 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 0941.HK 600050.SH 601728.SH 600941.SH telecom operator fixed-line subscribers