China Mobile 4G customer base reaches 594 mn

With a net addition of 58.62 million 4G customers, the total number of 4G customers for China Mobile has reached 594 million

China Mobile has achieved 4G penetration rate of 69 per cent in the first half of 2017.

In the first half of 2017, China Mobile has increased the total number of 4G base stations to 1.65 million, making its 4G TD-LTE (Time Division Long Term Evolution) network the largest in the world, leading in technology, coverage and quality.

The company is on track to achieve its target of a net increase of 100 million 4G customers this year. The average handset data traffic per user per month, or DOU, of 4G customers reached 1.4 GB, the total handset data traffic increased by 107.5%.

With the fast growing popularity and development of video and other applications, China Mobile expects the DOU of mobile customers will continue to realise relatively high upside potential.

China Mobile’s wireline broadband business has experienced favourable growth momentum with significant increments in both customer and revenue market shares. The customer base rapidly expanded with a net addition of 15.42 million, bringing the total number of wireline broadband customers to 93.04 million. We are hopeful to grow our wireline broadband customer base to more than 100 million by the end of the year.

Revenue from the wireline broadband business has increased by 49.8% year-on-year to reach RMB 17.9 billion and has become a key component of our revenue growth. The effective upgrade of broadband network strength has facilitated the rapid development of home digital services.

In the first half of 2017, the number of Mobaihe (digital set-top box) customers reached 38.59 million, representing a net increase of 15.79 million from the end of 2016 and a penetration rate of more than 40%.

Our IoT service developed solidly in the first half of 2017, with the total number of smart connections exceeding 150 million. The increasing scale of smart connections provided a take-off point for broadening IoT applications.

The IoT platform, together with Internet of Vehicles, industrial manufacturing, smart wearables, education and healthcare, municipal administration and other IoT applications will all be areas with long-term growth potential.

China Mobile maintained stable growth in the first half of 2017, recording operating revenue of RMB 388.9 billion, representing an increase of 5 % compared to the same period last year. The 6.9% growth in telecommunications services revenue was above industry average. Business transformation has also yielded positive results, with revenue from wireless data traffic reaching RMB 187.7 billion, accounting for more than 50% of the telecommunications services revenue and continuing to play a significant role as the biggest driver of growth.

EBITDA increased by 4.7% compared to the first half of 2016, reaching RMB140.7 billion. Profit attributable to equity shareholders grew by 3.5% year-on-year to RMB62.7 billion while overall profitability continued to be ahead of our industry peers.

Shang Bing, Chairman, China Mobile said, “China Mobile has maintained its market leadership and achieved encouraging results in the first half of 2017. We have expanded our businesses serving the personal, household, corporate and emerging business markets. We have made notable progress in strengthening our core competitive advantages and cultivating new sources of information income.”