- China’s ‘big three’ mobile operators report 20 million 5G net adds in July
- Fixed broadband growth not so impressive
- Cloud-based services boost operators’ H1 2024 results
The number of 5G subscribers in China continues to make vaulting monthly leaps, equivalent to the population of a small- to mid-sized country. According to their latest monthly subscriber stats, China’s ‘big three’ telcos – China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom – between them chalked up more than 20 million 5G net adds in July alone.
Although a huge number, the massive size of the country’s 5G market means that overall month‑on-month growth was a more sedate sounding 1.8%, rising from 1.13 billion (June) subscribers to almost 1.15 billion.
China Mobile is the country’s 5G growth engine, notching an additional 13.7 million subs during July. It took the operator’s 5G customer base to just under 528 million, which accounts for more than half of its total mobile subscriptions of just over 1 billion: China Mobile snagged its one billionth mobile subscriber in June.
China’s 5G caveat
China Telecom and China Unicom report the number of ‘5G packages’ rather than active 5G subscribers (which is the statistic that China Mobile now reports). This skews upwards China’s 5G number since those signed up to a 5G package (data bundle) can’t necessarily access 5G services, either due to insufficient network coverage or the lack of a suitable smartphone.
