China's Three Main Telcos Report Q2 2025 Subscriber Totals
Marbridge Consulting, 8/14/25
The listed arms of China's three main telecom operators have announced their subscriber totals for the quarter ending June 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 1.50 mln mobile subscribers during the quarter, raising the telecom operator's total mobile user base to nearly 1.005 bln.
During Q2 2025, China Mobile's net total number of 5G network customers increased by 21.65 mln to reach 599.31 mln.
China Mobile's total number of fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) saw a net increase of 3.18 mln in Q2 2025 to reach 323.23 mln.
China Telecom
China Telecom (0728.HK; 601728.SH) saw its mobile subscriber base reach 432.71 mln in Q2 2025, representing a net increase of 3.24 mln quarter-on-quarter. Of this total, 282.02 mln were 5G network customers, representing a net increase of 15.81 mln quarter-on-quarter.
China Telecom reported its total number of fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) reached 198.60 mln during Q2 2025, representing a net increase of 1.16 mln quarter-on-quarter.
China Unicom
China Unicom (0762.HK; 600050.SH) reported that as of the end of Q2 2025, its aggregate number of "Ubiquitous Connectivity" subscribers reached nearly 1.208 bln, up 26.07 mln quarter-on-quarter. 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. Of this total, 213.51 mln were 5G network customers; and 685.10 mln were Internet-of-things terminal connections, up 21.92 mln quarter-on-quarter.
China Unicom also reported that its number of customers served by virtual 5G industry private network during Q2 2025 was 19,754, up 1,813 quarter-on-quarter.
China Broadnet
China's fourth 5G telecom network operator, China Broadnet, has not yet reported its Q2 2025 mobile subscriber totals, but as of the end of Q1 2025, had a total 5G user base of approximately 33.70 mln, according to statistics announced by China's National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) on June 3. This figure represents a net increase of approximately 0.95 mln compared to 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: China Telecom China Mobile China Unicom Internet broadband telecom wireless mobile subscribers 5G broadband subscribers 0728.HK 0762.HK 0941.HK 600050.SH 601728.SH 600941.SH National Radio and Television Administration Broadnet fixed-line subscribers
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