Marbridge Daily

China's Three Main Telcos Add Just 3.2 Mln Mobile Subs in September 2019

Marbridge Consulting, 10/28/19

The listed arms of China's three main telecom operators have announced their subscriber totals for the month of September 2019, including a combined net addition of 3.20 mln mobile subscribers in China to reach a combined mobile subscriber base of over 1.597 bln. The September figure is roughly 54% lower than the average monthly net addition of mobile subs in the preceding 12 months (i.e. September 2018 to August 2019), which was approximately 6.90 mln, and over 65% lower than the September 2018 net addition of 9.22 mln.

During the month of September 2019, China's three main operators reported a combined net addition of 7.73 mln 4G subscribers (the majority of which were simply existing 2G or 3G subs who upgraded to 4G) to reach a total combined 4G subscriber base of approximately 1.274 bln. 4G penetration among mobile subscribers hit approximately 79.7%.

China Mobile

China Mobile (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) reported a net addition of 0.75 mln new mobile subscribers for the month of September 2019, pushing the telecom operator's total mobile user base to 942.03 mln. Of the total, 746.98 mln subscribers used its 4G network during the month. China Mobile saw a net gain of 1.11 mln 4G subs in September.

September marked the fourth month in 2019 during which China Mobile added fewer than 1.1 mln net new mobile subscribers, and dragged the operator's average net monthly add in the first 9 months of 2019 to 1.89 mln. In contrast, during the same 9-month period of 2018, China Mobile added an average of 3.26 mln net new mobile subs per month, and never added fewer than 1.1 mln in any single month.

China Mobile added 4.24 mln new fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) in September, increasing its total fixed-line broadband user base to 185.05 mln.

China Telecom

China Telecom (NYSE: CHA; 0728.HK) saw a net increase of 2.37 mln mobile subscribers in September, raising its total to 330.43 mln, of which 275.37 mln were 4G terminal users, with a net increase of 3.27 mln 4G terminal users in September.

China Telecom lost 0.27 mln fixed-line telephone subs in September, reducing its total to 112.24 mln.

China Telecom gained 0.92 mln new fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) to reach 152.66 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 September 2019, the aggregate number of fixed-line broadband subscribers of China Telecom and CTC was 180 mln.

China Unicom

China Unicom (NYSE: CHU; 0762.HK; 600050.SH) reported a net addition of just 83,000 mobile billing subscribers in September 2019 to reach a total mobile billing user base of 324.73 mln. Of the total, 251.15 mln were 4G subscribers, with a net addition of 3.35 mln LTE subs during the month.

September marked the fifth consecutive month in which Unicom posted a net addition of fewer than 200,000 mobile subs, following net additions of just 57,000, 24,000, 109,000, and 184,000 in May, June, July, and August, respectively. In the first 9 months of 2019, the operator has added a net monthly average of just 1.08 mln new mobile subs, compared to a net monthly average of 2.85 mln during the same 9-month period of 2018.

China Unicom lost 0.008 mln fixed-line telephone subscribers in September, dropping its total to 54.25 mln.

The operator added 0.47 mln fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) in September, increasing its total to 84.45 mln.

User Base Market Share by Operator

China Mobile's share of the nation's total mobile subscriber base as of the end of September 2019 dropped to 58.98%, compared to 59.05% at the end of August 2019 and 60.28% at the end of September 2018. China Telecom's share grew to 20.69%, up from 20.58% at the end of August 2019 and 19.34% at the end of September 2018, and China Unicom's share continued to slide to 20.33%, compared to 20.37% at the end of August 2019 and 20.38% at the end of September 2018.

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

Keywords: China Telecom China Mobile China Unicom fixed-line broadband penetration telecom 4G mobile subscribers broadband subscribers LTE CHL 0728.HK 0762.HK 0941.HK 600050.SH CHA CHU fixed-line subscribers