4G subscriptions in China reached 225.467 million at the end of June 2015 according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), with China Mobile accounting for 189.662 million of that figure – neither China Unicom nor China Telecom provide subscriber figures for 4G use.
The world’s largest cellco by subscribers, China Mobile has reported a recent slowdown in its overall user growth, adding just 1.812 million customers in the second quarter of 2015 to 817.196 million, compared to 8.750 million in the first three months of the year. Indeed, the operator’s 3G user base has declined sharply over the last six months, falling from 245.753 million at end-2014 to 214.815 million as the 4G segment has gathered speed with its 4G customer base more than doubling from 90.064 million to 189.662 million.
Similarly, China Unicom reported that its overall user base fell to 289.307 million at end-June from 294.751 million three months earlier, whilst its combined 3G and 4G user base climbed to 151.788 million from 151.364 million. Telecom’s customer base, meanwhile, grew to 191.440 million as at end-June 2015 from 188.820 million in the previous quarter, with its 3G/4G users making up 131.000 million of that number, compared to 124.850 million.