China Mobile's 5G package subscribers decreased by 2.25 million in March, and China Telecom's 5G package subscriber penetration rate increased by 1.7 percentage points in the first quarter, the fastest among operators.
A few days ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the economic operation of the communications industry in the first quarter of 2024, and the three major operators also released the user development in March.
In the first quarter of this year, the scale of mobile phone users increased steadily, and the scale of fixed broadband access users increased steadily. However, behind the growth of data, there have also been new changes in the development of 5G package users and China Radio and Television Mobile users.
5G packages penetrate 80% of users
In March, China Mobile's 5G package user development encountered a bottleneck, and after the number of users exceeded 800 million, it declined, slowing down the process of the overall number of 5G package users of the three major operators exceeding 1.4 billion.
As of the end of March, China Telecom's 5G package users reached 329 million, with a net increase of 4.66 million in the month and a net increase of 10.06 million in the first three months, China Unicom's 5G package users reached 269 million, with a net increase of 3.21 million in the month and a net increase of 9.23 million in the first three months, and China Mobile's 5G package users reached 799 million, a net decrease of 2.25 million in the month and a net increase of 4.03 million in the first three months. The total number of 5G package subscribers of the three major operators increased by 11.9 million in the first quarter.
In terms of 5G package user penetration, by the end of March this year, the penetration rate of 5G package users of the three major operators reached 80%. Among them, the penetration rate of China Telecom's 5G package users reached 79.9%, an increase of 0.8 percentage points from the previous month and an increase of 1.7 percentage points in the first three months. China Unicom's 5G package subscriber penetration rate reached 79.8%, an increase of 0.6 percentage points in the first three months. China Mobile's 5G package user penetration rate reached 80.2%, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from the previous month, and the change in the first three months was 0. The penetration rate of 5G package users of the three major operators increased by 2.3 percentage points in the first quarter.
At the same time, according to the data of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in the first three months of this year, the number of 5G mobile phone users reached 874 million, a net increase of 51.57 million, and the proportion of 5G users in mobile phone users was 49.8%, an increase of 3.2 percentage points compared with the end of the previous year.
Obviously, in the first quarter of this year, the net increase of 5G users of the three major operators is significantly higher than the net increase of 5G package users, which shows that on the one hand, with the gradual improvement of 5G network deployment, the use of 5G mobile phones and 5G network 5G users have increased significantly, and the "concentration" of 5G users is increasing; on the other hand, China Mobile has seen a decrease in 5G package users in January and March this year, making its 5G package user penetration rate always hovering around 80%, 80% The penetration rate has become a new watershed in the development of 5G package users, and the user development rate has gradually slowed down, and the growth space seems to have peaked.
China Unicom's mobile subscribers are growing rapidly
In the first quarter of this year, the mobile users and fixed-line broadband users of the three major operators have increased to a certain extent, stabilizing the development market of operators, and the number of mobile users of China Radio and Television has reached 10 million.
In terms of mobile communications, China Telecom's mobile subscribers reached 412 million, with a net increase of 1.91 million in the month, and a cumulative net increase of 3.88 million in the first three months; China Unicom's mobile subscribers reached 337 million, with a cumulative net increase of about 4 million in the first three months; and China Mobile's mobile subscribers reached 996 million, with a net increase of 4.56 million in the month, and a net increase of 4.63 million in the first three months. In the first quarter, the total number of mobile subscribers of the three major operators increased by 12.21 million.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the total number of mobile users of the three major operators and China Radio and Television, deducting the number of mobile users of the three major operators, the development of mobile users of China Radio and Television in the first quarter indirectly surfaced.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of the end of March, "the total number of mobile phone users of the three basic telecommunications companies and China Radio and Television reached 1.755 billion", deducting the number of mobile users announced by the three major operators, then the total number of mobile users of China Radio and Television reached 10.545 million (the number of users is calculated based on the data disclosed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the data disclosed by the three major operators, and the actual number of users of China Radio and Television should be subject to the caliber of China Radio and Television).
Data shows that in the first quarter of this year, China Unicom's mobile users grew rapidly, narrowing the distance with China Telecom. However, due to the large base, China Mobile still maintains a very obvious competitive advantage in the mobile user market.
In terms of fixed-line broadband, China Telecom had a total of 192 million fixed-line broadband users, a net increase of 590,000 in the month, and a net increase of 2.06 million in the first three months, China Unicom's fixed-line broadband users reached 115 million, a net increase of 2 million in the first three months, and China Mobile's fixed-line broadband users reached 305 million, with a cumulative net increase of 2.7 million in the month, and a net increase of 6.83 million in the first three months.
In the first quarter of this year, China Mobile's fixed-line broadband users continued to develop rapidly, and the number of its users was basically the same as the sum of the number of users of China Telecom and China Unicom.
New progress has been made in quality development
In March, China Unicom's quality development reached a new level, and the number of 5G industry virtual private network service customers officially exceeded 10,000.
In terms of "ubiquitous intelligent connection", according to the announcement, the total number of China Unicom's "big connection" users reached 1.028 billion, with a net increase of 15.32 million in the month and a net increase of 39.45 million in the first three months.
Among them, the cumulative number of IoT terminal connections reached 529 million, a net increase of 12.17 million in the month, and a cumulative net increase of 34.6 million in the first three months.
In terms of "innovative applications", the cumulative number of China Unicom's 5G industry virtual private network service customers reached 10,030, with a net increase of 524 in the month and a net increase of 1,467 in the first three months.
In terms of "smart service", China Unicom's smart customer service customer problem resolution rate in March was 98%, the same as the previous month, and the proportion of smart customer service intelligent service in March was 84.3%, down 0.5 percentage points from the previous month.
In terms of "scientific and technological innovation", the cumulative number of authorized patents of China Unicom in the first two months reached 362.
From the perspective of development, China Unicom has made outstanding achievements in the development of the industry market, but it seems to have encountered new challenges in smart services, and the proportion of smart customer service and intelligent services has declined to a certain extent.
Written by: Superb
Chart: Dawn
Editor: Hu Yuan
Guidance: Xin Wen
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