Marbridge Daily

China's Three Main Telcos Add 9.4 Mln Mobile Subs in January 2019

Marbridge Consulting, 2/20/19

China's three main telecom operators have announced their subscriber totals for the month of January 2019, including a combined net addition of 9.43 mln mobile subscribers in China.

China Mobile (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) reported a net addition of 2.41 mln new mobile subscribers in January, pushing the telecom operator's total mobile user base to 927.48 mln. Of the total, 716.92 mln subscribers used its LTE networks during the month. China Mobile saw a net addition of 4.27 mln new LTE subs in January. China Mobile added 4.85 mln new fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) in January, increasing its total fixed-line broadband user base to 161.54 mln.

China Unicom (NYSE: CHU; 0762.HK; 600050.SH) reported a net addition of 2.76 mln mobile billing subscribers during the month of January 2019, pushing the telecom operator's total mobile billing user base to 317.80 mln. Of the total, 222.84 mln were 4G subscribers, with a net addition of 2.91 mln LTE subs during the month. China Unicom lost 0.38 mln fixed-line telephone subscribers in January, dropping its total to 55.52 mln. The operator added 0.63 mln fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) in January, increasing its total to 81.51 mln.

China Telecom (NYSE: CHA; 0728.HK) saw a net increase of 4.26 mln mobile subscribers in January, raising its total to 307.26 mln, of which 247.37 mln were 4G terminal users, with a net increase of 4.94 mln 4G terminal users in January. China Telecom lost 0.15 mln fixed-line telephone subs in January, reducing its total to 116.33 mln. China Telecom gained 0.73 mln new fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) to reach 146.52 mln; if also including the fixed-line broadband subscribers of China Telecom's (i.e. China Telecom Corporation Limited's) parent company, China Telecommunications Corporation ("CTC"), as of the end of January 2019, the aggregate number of fixed-line broadband subscribers of China Telecom and CTC was 172 mln.

China Mobile's share of China's total mobile subscriber base as of the end of January 2019 decreased to 59.74%, compared to 59.95% at the end of December 2018 and 62.18% at the end of January 2018. China Unicom's share increased to 20.47%, compared to 20.42% at the end of December 2018 and 20.03% at the end of January 2018, and China Telecom's share grew to 19.79%, up from 19.64% at the end of December 2018 and 17.80% at the end of January 2018.

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

Keywords: national statistics wireless China Telecom China Mobile China Unicom fixed-line telecom 4G China Telecommunications Corporation mobile subscribers broadband subscribers LTE CHL 0728.HK 0762.HK 0941.HK 600050.SH CHA CHU fixed-line subscribers market share