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Operator blames intense competition, tax reform for lagging performance.
China Unicom on Wednesday reported declines in revenue and earnings in 2015, but discussed how it will fight back in the fiercely-competitive mobile market.
The telco generated revenue of 277.05 billion yuan (€38.29 billion) in the 12 months to 31 December, down from CNY284.68 billion in 2014.
EBITDA fell 5.7% year-on-year to CNY87.5 billion, while net profit fell 12.4% to CNY10.56 billion.
In a statement, China Unicom said several factors combined to put the company "under considerable pressure" in 2015.
These included a recommendation from the government to upgrade networks and lower prices; tariffs that allow mobile customers to carry over unused data into the next billing cycle; the replacement of business tax with value-added tax (VAT); and intensifying competition.
Indeed, China Unicom saw mobile service revenue fall 8% year-on-year to CNY142.62 billion, while mobile subscribers declined by 14.26 million to 252.31 million.
During 2015, China Unicom deployed 306,000 4G base stations, bringing its total to 399,000.
"The 4G network basically achieved continuous coverage in urban areas, county cities, and developed towns and villages," China Unicom said.
It also accelerated the construction of its fixed broadband network, completing the rollout of fibre networks in six provinces and more than 100 cities.
The company’s fixed broadband subscriber base grew 5.1% year-on-year to 72.33 million, with more than half of those subscribing to fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services.
China Unicom said it has big plans to reverse its ailing financial performance this year.
The telco said it will accelerate its 4G network deployment, improve its product portfolio, step-up its customer retention efforts, and reshape its brand image.
China Unicom also aims to drive fixed broadband and video adoption, and ramp up its activities in various growth areas including IoT, cloud, and big data.
"The new year marks the beginning of the all-round implementation of the ‘Focus Strategies’ and the fostering of innovation and cooperation," said China Unicom CEO Wang Xiaochu. "Looking forward, we are fully confident."
