According to MIIT, the number of China’s 4G subscribers has reached 947 million and the mobile Internet still develops rapidly. Research agency says China's 5G subscribers may account for half of the number worldwide in the future.
4G subscribers are approaching 1 billion
From January to September, traffic volume of telecom services hit CNY 1.82 trillion with a YoY of 63%. Telecom services revenue reached CNY 962.4 billion with a YoY increase of 6%. Meanwhile, mobile data and Internet services revenues were CNY 148.3 billion in the three basic telecom operators, YoY increasing 9.5% and accounting for 15.4% of the telecom service revenue. Mobile data and mobile Internet service revenue achieved YoY increase of 28.1% and hit CNY 412.6 billion, accounting for 42.9% of telecom services revenue.
By the end of September, the total number of mobile phone subscribers hit 1.39 billion in the three basic telecom operators, a net increase 72.64 million compared with the data in last year. Mobile broadband network users (3G and 4G subscribers) reached 1.09 billion with a net increase of 148 million.
It is worth noting that the total number of 4G subscribers reached 947 million, with net growth of 177 million and accounting for 67.9% of mobile phone subscribers.
China may possess half of global 5G subscribers
Research agency CCS Insight recently said in a report that 5G services will be provided in 2020, 5G subscribers will exceed 1 billion worldwide in 2023 and more than a half will be in China. By 2025, the global 5G subscribers will exceed 2.5 billion.
CCS Insight also said that 5G development will be faster than any previous mobile communication technology and all countries are competing to launch the first commercial 5G network. Thanks to the support of government, the rise of local enterprises and the high speed that subscribers upgrade to 4G , China will dominate the global 5G market.
Some of the 5G technology specifications have not reach an agreement in the global and uncertain factors still exist. However, certain technology enterprises have made progress in 5G, in the tests, the downloading speed could hit 1,000Mbps, meaning that a 2-hour HD movie could be downloaded in 12 seconds. In addition, 5G will be widely utilized in driverless cars and other fields.
Over 60% users get access to 50Mbps broadband network
By the end of September, the number of Internet broadband accessing ports reached 762 million, year-on-year increasing by 11.3% with net growth of 49.09 million. The basic telecom operators promoted the "replacement of copper network with fiber optic network” program, xDSL ports dropped to 26.22 million and its proportion decreased to 3.4%. On the other hand, FTTH/O ports reached 630 million with net growth of 92.3 million, accounting for 82.7% of the total number. Mobile communication base stations added 447,000 and hit 6.041 million, of which 3G/4G stations reached 4.471 million.
During the same time, the total number of fixed broadband network users hit 337 million in the three basic telecom operators, net increasing 40.07 million. Users of 20Mbps and above network exceeded 300 million, accounting for 89%; 50Mbps and above users net added 80.67 million and reached 207 million, accounted for 61.5%. FTTH/O subscribers reached 279 million, net increasing 51.13 million and accounting for 82.7% of total fixed broadband network users.
The popularization of fiber optic network continues to promote the development of IPTV. By the end of September, mobile Internet users reached 1.23 billion with YoY increase of 16%. Mobile phone Internet subscribers hit 1.15 billion, with penetration rate of mobile phone subscribers reaching 82.4%. IPTV subscribers increased 25.41 million and hit 112 million.