China Mobile, the world’s largest operator in terms of subscribers, added a total of 18.6 million 5G subscribers during December, the telco said on its website.
The carrier also said it ended last year with 614 million 5G subscribers. China Mobile added a total of 227.2 million subscribers in the 5G segment during 2022.
China Mobile’s overall mobile subscriber base at the end of December amounted to 975 million, after a net addition of 375,000 subscribers during the month. During 2022, China Mobile added a total of 18.11 million subscribers.
Meanwhile, China Telecom added 5 million 5G subscribers last month to take its total 5G subscribers base to 267.9 million. During 2022, the telco added a total of 80.16 million 5G subscribers.
China Telecom’s overall mobile base amounted to 391.18 million subscribers at the end of December, after adding 100,000 customers during the month.
Rival operator China Unicom has not yet revealed its figures for December and full 2022.
Chinese operators had deployed a total of 2.29 million 5G base stations nationwide as of the end of November, local state news agency Xinhua reported, citing data from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
This figure represents an increase of 862,000 compared to the end of 2021 and accounts for 21.1% of all mobile base stations in the country.
According to the report, the combined business revenue of firms in the telecommunications sector reached CNY1.45 trillion ($207.66 billion) in the January-November period, up 8% year on year, according to the ministry. The total business volume of the sector was 21.4% higher year-on-year if calculated at the constant price of last year, according to the ministry.
China’s three telecom giants – China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom – saw their revenue from emerging services, such as internet data centers, big data, cloud computing, and Internet of Things, surge 32.6% year-on-year to CNY 281.1 billion, according to the report.
The Chinese government also revealed that the number of cities in China with the capability to offer gigabit 5G and optical fiber services reached 110 by the end of October.
In these cities, over 80% of the large public hospitals, key universities, major cultural and tourist sites, airports, and key roads have access to 5G network.
Meanwhile China Broadnet, the country’s newest telecom carrier, recently reached nationwide coverage with its 5G network. China Broadnet had officially launched 5G services in June.
The operator already supplies cable services and became the country’s fourth operator when formally inaugurated in 2020, having previously acquired a license for commercial 5G services in 2019. The carrier was initially known as China Broadcasting Network before rebranding earlier this year.
According to previous reports, China Broadnet will use 5G infrastructure owned by China Mobile.
Source: https://www.rcrwireless.com/20230120/5g/china-mobile-ends-2022-614-million-5g-subscribers
