China home to 729.54 mln mobile subscribers
Shanghai. November 23. INTERFAX-CHINA - Mobile service subscribers in China increased by 88.29 million in the first ten months of 2009, pushing the country's total to 729.54 million, while fixed-line subscribers dropped by 18.98 million to 321.38 million during the same period, according to figures released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Nov. 23.
From January to October Chinese mobile subscribers sent and received 641.87 billion text messages, up 10.5 percent from the same period in 2008.
By the end of October China was home to 100.89 million broadband Internet subscribers, with 18.01 million new broadband subscribers since the end of 2008.
China's telecommunications industry generated RMB 2.11 trillion ($308.61 billion) in revenue during the first ten months of the year, up 13.7 percent year-on-year.
The tables below detail telecom service subscribers in China, the major business indicators of the country's telecom industry and a provincial breakdown of fixed-line telephone and mobile subscribers as of Oct. 31.
Subscribers in China's telecom industry as of Oct. 31, 2009
| Business indicators | Subscribers (mln) | Change from end of 2008 (mln) |
| Total fixed-line telephone subscribers | 321.38 | -18.98 |
| Urban fixed-line telephone subscribers | 217.33 | -14.23 |
| Urban residential fixed-line telephone subscribers | 132.59 | -23.29 |
| Rural fixed-line telephone subscribers | 104.05 | -4.75 |
| Rural residential fixed-line telephone subscribers | 90.44 | -5.69 |
| Total mobile phone subscribers | 729.54 | 88.29 |
| Mobile data service subscribers | 373.03 | 117.71 |
| Dial-up Internet subscribers | 8.94 | -3.34 |
| Special line Internet subscribers | 0.09 | 0.03 |
| Broadband Internet subscribers | 100.89 | 18.01 |
| xDSL subscribers | 82.28 | 15.26 |
Source: MIIT
Major business indicators for China's telecom industry, January to October, 2009
| Business indicators | Traffic volume | Y-o-y change (%) |
| Local fixed-line telephone traffic among different operators | 56.07 bln calls | -10.6 |
| Local fixed-line telephone traffic within operator | 392.85 bln calls | -12.2 |
| Local dial-up Internet voice service traffic | 7.70bln calls | -22.2 |
| Long distance fixed-line telephone traffic | 69.41 bln minutes | -4.3 |
| Domestic long distance fixed-line telephone traffic | 68.73 bln minutes | -4.0 |
| International outgoing fixed-line telephone traffic | 360.81 mln minutes | -26.2 |
| Outgoing fixed-line telephone traffic to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan | 317.98 mln minutes | -29.0 |
| Total mobile phone traffic | 2,894.02 bln minutes | 19.6 |
| Domestic long-distance mobile phone traffic | 190.70 bln minutes | 31.2 |
| International mobile phone traffic | 681.84 mln minutes | 7.1 |
| Mobile phone traffic to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan | 867.12 mln minutes | 9.1 |
| Mobile phone short messages (SMS) | 641.87 bln pieces | 10.5 |
| IP telephone traffic | 99.13 bln minutes | -15.7 |
| Domestic long-distance IP telephone traffic | 97.90 bln minutes | -15.6 |
| International IP telephone traffic | 739.63 mln minutes | -22.3 |
| IP telephone traffic to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan | 485.99 mln minutes | -21.3 |
Source: MIIT
Fixed-line telephone and mobile phone users by province as of Oct. 31, 2009
| Province | Fixed-line telephone users (mln) | Urban fixed-line telephone users (mln) | Rural fixed-line telephone users (mln) | Mobile phone users (mln) |
| Eastern China | 159.153 | 111.965 | 47.189 | 337.214 |
| Beijing | 8.903 | 6.907 | 1.996 | 17.867 |
| Tianjin | 3.855 | 3.818 | 0.037 | 9.762 |
| Liaoning | 15.567 | 10.989 | 4.579 | 28.334 |
| Shanghai | 9.405 | 9.285 | 0.12 | 20.386 |
| Jiangsu | 27.151 | 17.377 | 9.773 | 48.311 |
| Zhejiang | 21.588 | 13.508 | 8.08 | 43.877 |
| Fujian | 12.934 | 8.992 | 3.943 | 26.052 |
| Shandong | 23.197 | 13.103 | 10.094 | 51.023 |
| Guangdong | 34.434 | 26.48 | 7.954 | 86.73 |
| Hainan | 2.119 | 1.506 | 0.613 | 4.872 |
| Central China | 95.536 | 61.647 | 33.889 | 222.184 |
| Hebei | 13.809 | 8.895 | 4.915 | 37.181 |
| Shanxi | 7.974 | 5.25 | 2.723 | 19.235 |
| Jilin | 6.027 | 4.359 | 1.668 | 15.654 |
| Heilongjiang | 9.004 | 6.813 | 2.191 | 18.287 |
| Anhui | 12.98 | 6.356 | 6.624 | 20.765 |
| Jiangxi | 7.682 | 4.578 | 3.104 | 15.134 |
| Henan | 15.259 | 10.514 | 4.744 | 39.214 |
| Hubei | 11.064 | 7.216 | 3.848 | 29.807 |
| Hunan | 11.737 | 7.666 | 4.072 | 26.907 |
| Western China | 66.687 | 43.712 | 22.975 | 169.117 |
| Inner Mongolia | 4.554 | 3.846 | 0.708 | 16.153 |
| Guangxi | 8.018 | 4.951 | 3.067 | 18.962 |
| Chongqing | 6.395 | 4.057 | 2.338 | 13.761 |
| Sichuan | 15.866 | 10.096 | 5.77 | 33.587 |
| Guizhou | 4.613 | 2.596 | 2.018 | 14.2 |
| Yunnan | 5.888 | 3.614 | 2.274 | 19.078 |
| Tibet | 0.548 | 0.52 | 0.027 | 1.184 |
| Shaanxi | 8.294 | 5.322 | 2.973 | 22.717 |
| Gansu | 4.631 | 2.903 | 1.728 | 11.353 |
| Qinghai | 1.11 | 0.853 | 0.257 | 2.899 |
| Ningxia | 1.152 | 0.778 | 0.374 | 3.72 |
| Xinjiang | 5.618 | 4.177 | 1.441 | 11.503 |
| Total | 321.377 | 217.326 | 104.051 | 729.537 |
Source: MIIT
-HJL