China’s telecoms regulator, the MIIT, revealed yesterday that spending by the country’s trio of cellcos on 3G technology in 2009 totalled RMB143.5 billion (USD21 billion). The watchdog also revealed that 285,000 3G base stations had been deployed, and that there are currently more than ten million 3G users. China Mobile General Manager Wang Jianzhou stated that following the completion of the third phase of construction, China Mobile’s 3G network covers approximately 70% of all cities.