China's Three Main Telcos Report Q4 2025 Subscriber Totals
Marbridge Consulting, 3/26/26
The listed arms of China's three main telecom operators have announced their subscriber totals for the quarter ending December 31, 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 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 drop of approximately 3.71 mln mobile subscribers during the quarter, decreasing the telecom operator's total mobile user base to slightly over 1.005 bln. This figure represents a cumulative net increase of approximately 0.85 mln since the end of 2024.
During Q4 2025, China Mobile's number of 5G network customers reached approximately 642.00 mln, representing net increases of 19.65 mln quarter-on-quarter and 64.33 mln since the end of 2024.
China Mobile's total number of fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) fell to 324.19 mln in Q4 2025, representing a net decrease of 4.58 mln quarter-on-quarter and a net increase of 9.62 mln since the end of 2024.
China Telecom
China Telecom (0728.HK; 601728.SH) saw its mobile subscriber base reach 438.65 mln in Q4 2025, representing net increases of 1.46 mln quarter-on-quarter and 14.13 mln since the end of 2024. Of this total, 301.81 mln were 5G network customers, representing net increases of 9.40 mln quarter-on-quarter and 51.08 mln since the end of 2024.
China Telecom reported its total number of fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) reached 201.12 mln during Q4 2025, representing net increases of 0.63 mln quarter-on-quarter and 3.68 mln since the end of 2024.
China Unicom
China Unicom (0762.HK; 600050.SH) reported that as of the end of Q4 2025, its aggregate number of "Ubiquitous Connectivity" subscribers reached nearly 1.255 bln, up 20.93 mln quarter-on-quarter and 117.68 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, 232.18 mln were 5G network customers, representing a net increases of 6.99 mln quarter-on-quarter; and 723.11 mln were Internet-of-things terminal connections, representing net increases of 19.80 mln quarter-on-quarter and 98.33 mln since the end of 2024.
China Unicom also reported that its number of customers served by virtual 5G industry private network during Q4 2025 was 23,520, representing net increases of 1,832 quarter-on-quarter and 7,461 since the end of 2024.
China Broadnet
China's fourth 5G telecom network operator, China Broadnet, has not yet reported its Q4 2025 mobile subscriber totals, but as of the end of Q3 2025, had a total 5G user base of approximately 39.96 mln, according to statistics released on the website of China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) on November 6, 2025. This figure represents net increases of approximately 4.50 mln quarter-on-quarter and 7.20 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: 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
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