China's Three Main Telcos Report Q3 2025 Subscriber Totals
Marbridge Consulting, 10/22/25
The listed arms of China's three main telecom operators have announced their subscriber totals for the quarter ending September 30, 2025. Note that starting from 2025, all three operators - China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom - shifted to reporting user totals on a quarterly, rather than monthly, basis. In addition, both China Unicom and China Telecom have joined China Mobile in reporting 5G network customer, rather than 5G package customer, totals. A 5G network customer is defined as a mobile customer who has used the 5G network in the given quarter, while a 5G package customer is a mobile customer who has simply subscribed to a 5G tariff plan (i.e. "5G network customers" is a subset of "5G package customers").
China Mobile
China Mobile (0941.HK; 600941.SH) reported a net gain of 4.00 mln mobile subscribers during the quarter, raising the telecom operator's total mobile user base to nearly 1.009 bln.
During Q3 2025, China Mobile's number of 5G network customers reached 622.35 mln, representing net increases of 23.04 mln quarter-on-quarter and 69.95 mln since the end of 2024.
China Mobile's total number of fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) rose to 328.77 mln in Q3 2025, representing net increases of 5.54 mln quarter-on-quarter and 14.20 mln since the end of 2024.
China Telecom
China Telecom (0728.HK; 601728.SH) saw its mobile subscriber base reach 437.19 mln in Q3 2025, representing net increases of 4.48 mln quarter-on-quarter and 12.67 mln since the end of 2024. Of this total, 292.41 mln were 5G network customers, representing net increases of 10.39 mln quarter-on-quarter and 41.68 mln since the end of 2024.
China Telecom reported its total number of fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) reached 200.49 mln during Q3 2025, representing net increases of 1.89 mln quarter-on-quarter and 3.05 mln since the end of 2024.
China Unicom
China Unicom (0762.HK; 600050.SH) reported that as of the end of Q3 2025, its aggregate number of "Ubiquitous Connectivity" subscribers reached nearly 1.234 bln, up 25.92 mln quarter-on-quarter and 96.75 mln since the end of 2024. China Unicom's "Ubiquitous 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.
Among China Unicom's total Ubiquitous Connectivity subscribers, 225.19 mln were 5G network customers, representing a net increases of 11.67 mln quarter-on-quarter; and 703.31 mln were Internet-of-things terminal connections, representing net increases of 18.21 mln quarter-on-quarter and 78.53 mln since the end of 2024.
China Unicom also reported that its number of customers served by virtual 5G industry private network during Q3 2025 was 21,688, representing net increases of 1,934 quarter-on-quarter and 5,629 since the end of 2024.
China Broadnet
China's fourth 5G telecom network operator, China Broadnet, has not yet reported its Q3 2025 mobile subscriber totals, but as of the end of Q2 2025, had a total 5G user base of approximately 35.46 mln, according to statistics announced by China's National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) on August 19. This figure represents net increases of approximately 1.75 mln quarter-on-quarter and 2.70 mln since the end of December 2024.
Broadnet is a relatively new mobile network operator, launching its first 5G network services in mid-2022, and is not yet reporting its 5G subscriber totals on a regular basis.
Keywords: national statistics wireless China Telecom China Mobile Internet broadband telecom mobile subscribers 5G broadband subscribers 0728.HK 0762.HK 0941.HK 600050.SH 601728.SH 600941.SH National Radio and Television Administration Broadnet
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