Marbridge Daily

China's Three Main Telcos Add 25 Mln 5G Subs in December 2023

Marbridge Consulting, 1/23/24

The listed arms of China's three main telecom operators have announced their subscriber totals for the month of December 2023, including a combined net increase of approximately 24.82 mln 5G package subscribers in China, boosting their combined 5G package subscriber base to nearly 1.373 bln. As of the end of December, 5G package subscribers accounted for 80.2% and 78.1% of China Mobile's and China Telecom's total mobile subscriber bases, respectively.

China Mobile

China Mobile (0941.HK; 600941.SH) reported a net gain of just 52,000 mobile subscribers during the month, raising the telecom operator's total mobile user base to 991.00 mln. China Mobile increased its 5G package subscriber base by 15.70 mln to reach a total of 794.50 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's total number of fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) remained flat at 298.25 mln in December compared to the prior month, representing a net increase of 26.08 mln since the beginning of 2023.

China Telecom

China Telecom (0728.HK; 601728.SH) saw a net increase of 0.54 mln mobile subscribers in December, raising its total to 407.77 mln, of which 318.66 mln were 5G package subscribers. During the month, the operator's 5G user base rose by 4.03 mln subscribers.

China Telecom lost 0.31 mln fixed-line telephone subs in December, reducing its total to 101.02 mln.

China Telecom reported an increase of 0.10 mln fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) during the month, raising its total to 190.16 mln.

China Unicom

China Unicom (0762.HK; 600050.SH) reported that as of the end of December 2023, its aggregate number of "Big Connectivity" subscribers reached 988.39 mln, up 8.30 mln month-on-month and up 126.65 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, 259.64 mln were 5G package subscribers, representing a net gain of 5.08 mln month-on-month and 46.91 mln since the end of 2022; and 493.91 mln were Internet-of-things terminal connections, up 8.42 mln month-on-month and up 108.37 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 December was 8,563, up 554 month-on-month and up 4,758 since the end of 2022.

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

China's fourth 5G telecom network operator, China Broadnet, saw its 5G user base surpass 20 mln on October 19, the company revealed at the 2023 World 5G Convention held in Zhengzhou from December 5-7. Since that time, however, China Broadnet has not publicly released any updated 5G subscriber statistics.

Broadnet officially launched 5G network services just 19 months ago, on June 27, 2022. Because Broadnet is not yet reporting its 5G subscriber totals on a regular, monthly basis, Marbridge is not yet integrating its totals with those of China's three more established telecom operators above.

Keywords: national statistics wireless 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 Broadnet fixed-line subscribers