China Mobile's 3G subscribers decline as 4G users top 50 million

China Mobile saw its first monthly decrease in 3G subscribers last month as 4G users crossed its 50-million milestone two months ahead of schedule.

Data released yesterday by the world's largest wireless network operator by number of subscribers showed it had 242.89 million 3G customers at the end of last month, down from 244.461 million in September.

It was the first such decline since the company started rolling out its 3G service on the mainland in 2009.

The number of 4G subscribers, however, grew 33 per cent to reach 54.45 million, compared with 40.949 million in the previous month.

"We expect China Mobile to have more than 75 million 4G subscribers by the end of this year," said Chris Lane, a senior analyst at Bernstein Research.

Lane predicted that strong take-up of 4G services would continue next year as China Mobile rolled out its 4G infrastructure, built on the mainland-developed standard called time-division long-term evolution (TD-LTE), into more cities.

"China Mobile's long-term objective is to take 4G to 98 per cent population coverage, which is equivalent to their 2G presence today," he said.