China's telecom sector took in RMB 1.16 trillion in revenue in the first eight months of the year, down 2.2% from a year earlier, while telecom business volume rose 7.6% at constant prices, according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Fixed broadband subscriptions kept growing steadily, with gigabit users continuing to climb. By the end of August, China's three basic telecom operators had 704 million fixed broadband subscribers, a net gain of 13.65 million from the end of last year. Among them, 674 million, or 95.6%, were on connections of 100 Mbps or faster, while 263 million, or 37.3%, were on 1,000 Mbps or faster — a net increase of 24.27 million from the end of last year, lifting their share by 2.8 percentage points.
Mobile phone subscriptions edged up, with 5G users continuing to expand. By the end of August, the three basic telecom operators and China Broadcasting Network had 1.849 billion mobile phone subscribers, a net increase of 22.16 million from the end of last year. Of those, 1.311 billion were 5G users, up by a net 107 million from the end of last year and accounting for 70.9% of all mobile subscribers.
Mobile IoT terminal users grew quickly. By the end of August, the three basic telecom operators had 3.07 billion mobile IoT terminal users, a net increase of 182 million from the end of last year. Internet TV (IPTV and OTT) users totaled 408 million, down 84,000 from the end of last year.
Mobile internet traffic continued to grow at a double-digit pace, with August DOU staying high. In the first eight months, cumulative mobile internet traffic reached 297.1 billion GB, up 17.3% year on year. By the end of August, mobile internet users totaled 1.638 billion, a net increase of 28.58 million from the end of last year. Average mobile internet traffic per user (DOU) in August reached 23.45 GB per user per month, up 12.4% year on year and 0.41 GB per user per month higher than at the end of last year.
Voice call volumes kept falling. In the first eight months, outgoing mobile call duration totaled 1.3 trillion minutes, down 6.7% year on year, while outgoing fixed-line call duration reached 37.3 billion minutes, down 17.6%. Mobile SMS volume fell 9.8% year on year in the first eight months, and mobile SMS revenue dropped 12.4%.
Gigabit fiber broadband network construction pressed ahead. By the end of August, China had 1.27 billion internet broadband access ports, a net increase of 23.22 million from the end of last year. Fiber-to-the-home/office ports reached 1.23 billion, a net increase of 21.16 million, or 96.7% of all internet broadband access ports. By the end of August, the number of 10G PON ports capable of gigabit service reached 33.25 million, a net increase of 1.629 million from the end of last year.
5G base stations made up nearly 40% of the total. By the end of August, China had 5.195 million 5G base stations, a net increase of 357,000 from the end of last year, accounting for 39.7% of all mobile base stations — up 0.3 percentage points from the first seven months.