China home to 710.5 mln mobile phone subscribers by end of August
Shanghai. September 28. INTERFAX-CHINA - The number of mobile phone subscribers in China increased by 69.26 million in the first eight months of 2009, pushing the country's total to 710.5 million, while fixed-line subscribers dropped by 14.38 million during the same period to 325.98 million, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Sept. 27.
From January to August, Chinese mobile phone users sent and received 509.53 billion text messages, an increase of 11 percent from the same period last year.
By the end of August, China was home to 97.23 million broadband Internet subscribers, with 14.35 million new broadband subscribers added since the end of 2008.
The Chinese telecom industry generated total revenues of RMB 1.66 trillion ($242.98 billion) during the eight-month period, up 13 percent year-on-year.
The tables below detail the number of 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 phone subscribers in the country as of Aug. 31, 2009.
Subscribers in China's telecom industry as of Aug. 31, 2009
| Business indicators | Subscribers (mln) | Change from end of 2008 (mln) |
| Total fixed-line telephone subscribers | 325.98 | -14.38 |
| Urban fixed-line telephone subscribers | 220.68 | -10.88 |
| Urban residential fixed-line telephone subscribers | 134.50 | -21.38 |
| Rural fixed-line telephone subscribers | 105.30 | -3.50 |
| Rural residential fixed-line telephone subscribers | 91.77 | -4.35 |
| Total mobile phone subscribers | 710.50 | 69.26 |
| Mobile data service subscribers | 352.42 | 97.10 |
| Dial-up Internet subscribers | 9.21 | -3.07 |
| Special line Internet subscribers | 0.11 | 0.05 |
| Broadband Internet subscribers | 97.23 | 14.35 |
| xDSL subscribers | 79.57 | 12.55 |
Source: MIIT
Major business indicators for China's telecom industry, January to August, 2009
| Business indicators | Traffic volume | Y-o-y change (%) |
| Local fixed-line telephone traffic among different operators | 45.38 bln calls | -10.5 |
| Local fixed-line telephone traffic within operator | 319.14 bln calls | -11.8 |
| Local dial-up Internet voice service traffic | 6.39 bln calls | -22.5 |
| Long distance fixed-line telephone traffic | 55.82 bln minutes | -1.5 |
| Domestic long distance fixed-line telephone traffic | 55.26 bln minutes | -1.1 |
| International outgoing fixed-line telephone traffic | 293.79 mln minutes | -23.5 |
| Outgoing fixed-line telephone traffic to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan | 258.82 mln minutes | -29.6 |
| Total mobile phone traffic | 2,267.9 bln minutes | 18.9 |
| Domestic long-distance mobile phone traffic | 147.26 bln minutes | 29.8 |
| International mobile phone traffic | 533.07 mln minutes | 6.7 |
| Mobile phone traffic to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan | 681.82 mln minutes | 7.6 |
| Mobile phone short messages (SMS) | 509.53 bln pieces | 11.0 |
| IP telephone traffic | 79.25 bln minutes | -16.2 |
| Domestic long-distance IP telephone traffic | 78.26 bln minutes | -16.1 |
| International IP telephone traffic | 60.01 mln minutes | -20.6 |
| IP telephone traffic to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan | 397.21 mln minutes | -18.6 |
Source: MIIT
Fixed-line telephone and mobile phone users by province as of Aug. 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 | 175.33 | 122.81 | 52.52 | 365.73 |
| Beijing | 8.85 | 6.85 | 2.00 | 17.43 |
| Tianjin | 3.87 | 3.84 | 0.04 | 9.48 |
| Liaoning | 15.70 | 11.12 | 4.59 | 27.35 |
| Shanghai | 9.44 | 9.32 | 0.12 | 20.20 |
| Jiangsu | 27.60 | 17.77 | 9.83 | 46.51 |
| Zhejiang | 21.81 | 13.70 | 8.11 | 42.88 |
| Fujian | 13.24 | 9.27 | 3.97 | 25.76 |
| Shandong | 23.75 | 13.50 | 10.25 | 49.93 |
| Guangdong | 34.89 | 26.91 | 7.98 | 85.47 |
| Hainan | 2.13 | 1.51 | 0.62 | 4.69 |
| Central China | 83.06 | 53.58 | 29.49 | 180.10 |
| Hebei | 14.05 | 9.03 | 5.02 | 36.04 |
| Shanxi | 8.02 | 5.28 | 2.74 | 19.20 |
| Jilin | 6.15 | 4.43 | 1.72 | 15.47 |
| Heilongjiang | 9.46 | 7.22 | 2.25 | 18.19 |
| Anhui | 13.15 | 6.40 | 6.75 | 19.91 |
| Jiangxi | 7.76 | 4.60 | 3.16 | 14.72 |
| Henan | 15.41 | 10.61 | 4.80 | 37.72 |
| Hubei | 11.21 | 7.31 | 3.90 | 29.00 |
| Hunan | 11.90 | 7.74 | 4.16 | 25.89 |
| Western China | 67.59 | 44.30 | 23.30 | 164.68 |
| Inner Mongolia | 4.57 | 3.85 | 0.72 | 15.78 |
| Guangxi | 8.05 | 4.94 | 3.11 | 18.39 |
| Chongqing | 6.45 | 4.07 | 2.38 | 13.43 |
| Sichuan | 16.02 | 10.19 | 5.83 | 32.61 |
| Guizhou | 4.71 | 2.65 | 2.06 | 13.88 |
| Yunnan | 5.93 | 3.63 | 2.30 | 18.72 |
| Tibet | 0.55 | 0.53 | 0.03 | 1.13 |
| Shaanxi | 8.36 | 5.35 | 3.01 | 22.05 |
| Gansu | 4.72 | 2.95 | 1.76 | 11.11 |
| Qinghai | 1.13 | 0.87 | 0.26 | 2.83 |
| Ningxia | 1.15 | 0.77 | 0.39 | 3.60 |
| Xinjiang | 5.96 | 4.50 | 1.46 | 11.13 |
| Total | 325.981 | 220.679 | 105.301 | 710.504 |
Source: MIIT
-HJL