China Mobile laid out plans to add 340,000 5G base stations in 2025 despite intending to trim overall capex for the full year, with spending on the generation of infrastructure to decline 15.6 per cent year-on-year.
With the additional sites, its 5G base station count will hit 2.8 million by the end of the year.
In its annual results statement, the operator forecast capex for 2025 would drop 7.8 per cent. This follows a 7.6 per cent drop in 2024 to CNY164 billion ($22 billion), lower than its original CNY173 billion forecast.
The operator’s total mobile user base topped 1 billion at end-2024, up from 991 million a year earlier.
Its number of 5G network customers grew 18.7 per cent to 552 million. ARPU slipped 1.6 per cent to CNY49.30, average monthly data usage was steady at 15.9GB.
China Mobile chair Yang Jie noted “amid a complex and stressful external environment marked by various challenges”, the company united as a team to record a favourable operating performance.
Net profit in 2024 rose 5 per cent to CNY138.4 billion, with operating revenue up 3.1 per cent to CNY1 trillion. Service revenue increased 3 per cent to CNY889.5 billion, while product sales improved 3.8 per cent to CNY151.3 billion.
China Mobile now breaks down revenue into four categories: mobile, home broadband and smart home, enterprise and new businesses.
Mobile revenue dipped 1.3 per cent to CNY483.7 billion; broadband grew 8.5 per cent to CNY106.8 billion; enterprise was up 8.8 per cent to CNY209.1 billion; and new market 8.7 per cent to CNY53.6 billion.
Source: https://www.mobileworldlive.com/china-mobile/china-mobile-targets-2-8m-5g-sites-despite-capex-cut/