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More than half of the operator’s total mobile subscriber base is connected to 4G.
China Mobile’s first half net profit jumped 5.6% on last year thanks to continued strong growth in 4G customers, which now represent more than half of the operator’s overall mobile customer base.
China Mobile ended June with 837.04 million mobile customers. Of that total, 428.54 million, or 51.2%, are 4G customers. At the end of June 2015, those figures stood at 817.2 million and 189.66 million respectively.
"China Mobile has focused its promotional efforts towards 4G upgrades," said China Mobile chairman Shang Bing, in a statement. "In the first half of 2016, the monthly average net increase of 4G customers was over 19 million."
The operator has been busy expanding its 4G network, adding 200,000 base stations in the first half, bringing its total to 1.32 million.
"The strength of the network was enhanced by the launch of high quality VoLTE in nearly 300 cities across the country. The application of carrier aggregation (CA) has also been rolled out in over 300 cities," Bing said.
The strong operational performance was reflected in China Mobile’s financials.
First-half service revenue increased 6.9% year-on-year to 325.42 billion yuan (€43.96 billion), while total revenue reached CNY370.35 billion, up from CNY345.69 billion a year ago.
The growth offset the 7.5% jump in operating expenses, which came in at CNY304.22 billion, resulting in an operating profit of CNY66.13 billion (€8.94 billion), compared to CNY62.67 billion in the first six months of 2015.
Net profit grew to CNY60.62 billion from CNY57.4 billion a year ago.
"The results show that we have experienced a good first half of 2016. However, competition around 4G business, the continued expansion of Internet companies into the communications industry, new regulatory policies and our change of business focus will all pose risks to our existing operations," Bing said, adding that China Mobile must "be on the front foot" when it comes to capitalising on new growth areas.
"For the rest of 2016, we remain committed to creating value for our shareholders and strengthening our market position to ensure that we maintain our lead in terms of profitability," he said.
