China Telecom profit up 20 percent on 3G users
HONG KONG (AP) — State-owned China Telecom says quarterly profit grew by a fifth as it continued to benefit from spending by new users of data-hungry iPhones.
China Telecom said Monday that profit in the July-September quarter rose to 4.5 billion yuan, up 20 percent from a year earlier. Revenue rose 12 percent to 86.7 billion yuan.
The Beijing-based company is China's third-biggest mobile phone operator by subscribers. It started offering Apple's popular smartphone in March 2012, becoming the second Chinese mobile phone company to do so.
The company said Internet access and data services continued to have "robust growth momentum," offsetting the decline in traditional fixed-line voice service.
China Telecom added 9.15 million third-generation customers in the latest quarter, bringing the total to 96.48 million.
