China reaches 2.22 million 5G base stations at end-Q3

During the first nine months of the year, operators in China added 795,000 5G base stations

China ended September with a total of 2.22 million 5G base stations across the country, state news service Xinhua reported.

The figure represents a net increase of 795,000 5G base stations from the end of 2021.

The combined operating revenue of the Chinese telecom sector reached nearly CNY1.2 trillion ($167.37 billion) in the January-September period, an increase of 8.2% compared to the same period the previous year, Xinhua reported, citing information provided by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Emerging businesses such as big data, cloud computing, internet data centers and Internet of Things registered a rapid revenue increase during the period. The emerging business revenue of China’s three telecom carriers China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom reached CNY 232.9 billion during the period, up 33.4% year-on-year.

Specifically, revenue from cloud computing and big data increased 127.6% and 62.6%, respectively, in the January-September period.

Chinese operators recorded a net gain of 31.4 million 5G subscribers in September, according to the operators’ latest available statistics.

China Mobile, the world’s largest operator in terms of subscribers, added a total of 18 million 5G subscribers during September. The carrier said it ended last month with 556.8 million 5G subscribers.

China Mobile has added a total of 170 million subscribers in the 5G segment since the beginning of the year.

China Mobile’s overall mobile subscriber base at the end of September amounted to 974.04 million, after a net addition of 798,000 subscribers during the month.

Meanwhile, China Telecom added 7.44 million 5G subscribers last month to take its total 5G subscribers base to 251 million. Since the beginning of the year, the telco has added a total of 63.24 million 5G subscribers.

China Telecom’s overall mobile base amounted to 389.9 million subscribers at the end of last month, after adding 1.89 million customers during September.

Also, China Unicom said it added a total of 6 million 5G subscribers during last month. The carrier ended September with 200.83 million 5G subscribers.

According to recent press reports, China Unicom Unicom had recently obtained the approval from the MIIT to refarm its 904-915 MHz and 949-960 MHz frequencies, currently used for 2G, 3G and 4G. The carrier said it will use the 900 MHz spectrum to expand 5G coverage in rural China and to expand 5G in industrial settings.

Meanwhile China Broadnet, the country’s new telecom carrier, recently reached nationwide coverage with its 5G network. China Broadnet had officially launched 5G services in June.

The operator already supplies cable services and became the country’s fourth operator when formally inaugurated in 2020, having previously acquired a license for commercial 5G services in 2019. The carrier was initially known as China Broadcasting Network before rebranding earlier this year.

According to previous reports, China Broadnet will use 5G infrastructure owned by China Mobile. Last year, China Broadnet and China Mobile said they aim to initially deploy 400,000 5G base stations as part of the companies’ efforts to launch a shared 5G network.