China's Three Main Telcos Report September 2024 Subscriber Totals
Marbridge Consulting, 10/22/24
The listed arms of China's three main telecom operators have announced their subscriber totals for the month of September 2024.
China Mobile
China Mobile (0941.HK; 600941.SH) reported a net gain of 2.43 mln mobile subscribers during the month, increasing the telecom operator's total mobile user base to nearly 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 September, China Mobile's total number of 5G network customers increased by 5.91 mln to reach 539.43 mln.
China Mobile's total number of fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) rose to 313.60 mln in September, up 2.99 mln month-on-month and up 15.36 mln since the end of 2023.
China Telecom
China Telecom (0728.HK; 601728.SH) saw a net increase of 1.93 mln mobile subscribers in September, raising its total to 422.67 mln, of which 345.06 mln were 5G package subscribers. During the month, the operator's 5G package subscriber base rose by 2.17 mln subscribers.
China Telecom lost 0.40 mln fixed-line telephone subs in September, reducing its total to 98.00 mln.
China Telecom reported a net increase of 1.22 mln fixed-line broadband subscribers (registered accounts) during the month, raising its total to 196.26 mln.
China Unicom
China Unicom (0762.HK; 600050.SH) reported that as of the end of September 2024, its aggregate number of "Big Connectivity" subscribers reached nearly 1.105 bln, up 14.82 mln month-on-month. 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, 285.60 mln were 5G package subscribers, representing a net gain of 3.08 mln month-on-month; and 593.86 mln were Internet-of-things terminal connections, up 10.96 mln month-on-month.
China Unicom also reported that its number of customers served by virtual 5G industry private network for the month of September was 14,013, up 479 month-on-month.
China Broadnet
China's fourth 5G telecom network operator, China Broadnet, recently saw its 5G user base reach over 28 mln, according to new statistics from China's National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) on September 27. Broadnet is not yet reporting its 5G subscriber totals on a regular, monthly basis, and since September 27, has not released any further update to that figure.
September 27, 2024 marked the 2-year anniversary of Broadnet's official, nationwide launch of commercial 5G mobile services. The company initially launched 5G services in two batches, on June 27 and July 28, 2022, covering 29 provinces, and then added the last two of mainland China's 31 provinces - Tibet and Qinghai - with an official service launch on September 27, 2022.
Keywords: wireless China Telecom China Mobile China Unicom fixed-line Internet broadband telecom 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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