Spotlight on China Mobile's 3G subscriber gains, 4G expansion plans

While speculation remains rife about a potential deal with Apple, China Mobile will be more closely watched by investors this week for signs of revenue improvement, 3G subscriber growth and updates on its 4G network expansion.

China Mobile, the world's largest wireless network operator by subscribers, is expected to show modest gains when its financial results for the six months to June are released on Thursday.

Listed in Hong Kong and New York, China Mobile had 740.15 million subscribers at the end of June, including 137.88 million 3G users.

A research note released by Barclays last month said China Mobile had driven the robust addition of 3G data users on the mainland, which became the world's largest market for smartphones last year.

Unlike domestic rivals China Unicom and China Telecom, China Mobile does not support Apple's iPhone on its 3G network, which is built on the mainland-developed 3G standard called TD-SCDMA.

Barclays forecast China Mobile would report a first-half net profit of 63.16 billion yuan (HK$80 billion), up from 62.2 billion yuan a year earlier.

The consensus estimate from a Bloomberg poll of analysts was for net profit to reach 65.58 billion yuan.