China's three major mobile service providers all enjoyed an increase in 3G and 4G users in 2015, but China Mobile was the clear winner in finding new customers, figures released as of Wednesday show.
The company had roughly 481 million users across both services at the end of last year, a 43.4% jump from 2014. China Mobile increased its number of 4G users from 90 million to 312 million.
China Telecom raised its combined 3G and 4G users by 20.7% to 143 million over the year. It found 51 million new 4G customers, bringing its total to 58 million. China Unicom did not release 4G-only figures, but its total users for the two networks rose 23.3% to 183 million.
China Mobile topped December records for new 4G users, local brokerage Bocom International said in a report Thursday. It maintained that the issue was a good long-term buy, the second-highest rating on its four-tier scale, while keeping China Telecom and China Unicom one rank below as a neutral investment.
The three companies' stock prices gained here early Thursday morning, with China Telecom rising 2.06% at one point to 3.46 Hong Kong dollars (45 cents). But they struggled along with the rest of the exchange in the afternoon. China Telecom ended the session down 2.36% at HK$3.31. China Unicom closed down 1.48% at HK$8, while China Mobile stayed flat at HK$80.
Source: http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Trends/China-Mobile-other-leaders-gained-customers-in-2015