China's 5G Network Operators Report December 2024 Subscriber Totals
Marbridge Consulting, 1/21/25
The listed arms of China's three main telecom operators have announced their subscriber totals for the month of December 2024.
China Mobile
China Mobile (0941.HK; 600941.SH) reported a net loss of 0.79 mln mobile subscribers during the month, lowering the telecom operator's total mobile user base to approximately 1.004 bln.
Starting from the May iteration, China Mobile shifted from reporting monthly 5G package customer totals to reporting monthly 5G network customer totals, explaining that the latter better reflects the company's 5G development. China Mobile defines a 5G network customer as a mobile customer who has used the company's 5G network in the given month. In contrast, 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").
During the month of December, China Mobile's total number of 5G network customers increased by 5.28 mln to reach 552.40 mln.
China Mobile's total number of fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) fell to 314.57 mln in December, down 1.30 mln month-on-month, but up 16.32 mln since the end of 2023.
China Telecom
China Telecom (0728.HK; 601728.SH) saw its mobile subscriber base reach 424.52 mln in December, representing net increases of 0.82 mln month-on-month and 16.75 mln year-to-date. Of this total, 351.48 mln were 5G package subscribers, representing net increases of 2.11 mln month-on-month and 32.82 mln year-to-date.
China Telecom's fixed-line telephone subscriber base ended the month of December at 96.90 mln, representing net declines of 0.39 mln month-on-month and 4.12 mln year-to-date.
China Telecom reported its total number of fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) reached 197.44 mln during the month, representing net increases of 0.63 mln month-on-month and 7.28 mln year-to-date.
China Unicom
China Unicom (0762.HK; 600050.SH) reported that as of the end of December 2024, its aggregate number of "Big Connectivity" subscribers reached nearly 1.137 bln, up 10.23 mln month-on-month and 148.64 mln year-to-date. 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, 290.44 mln were 5G package subscribers, representing net gains of 1.54 mln month-on-month and 30.81 year-to-date; and 624.78 mln were Internet-of-things terminal connections, up 11.37 mln month-on-month and 130.87 mln year-to-date.
China Unicom also reported that its number of customers served by virtual 5G industry private network for the month of December was 16,059, up 711 month-on-month and 7,496 year-to-date.
China Broadnet
China's fourth 5G telecom network operator, China Broadnet, saw its 5G user base reach approximately 32.75 mln as of the end of December, according to statistics announced by China's National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) at the 2025 National Radio and Television Work Conference held in Beijing from January 3-4.
Broadnet officially launched 5G network services just 31 months ago, on June 27, 2022, and is not yet reporting its 5G subscriber totals on a regular, monthly basis.
Keywords: wireless China Telecom China Mobile China Unicom fixed-line Internet broadband statistics telecom mobile subscribers 5G broadband subscribers 0728.HK 0762.HK 0941.HK 600050.SH 601728.SH 600941.SH Broadnet fixed-line subscribers
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