Three major operators: 5G package user penetration rate will exceed 60% in 2022

On March 13, China Telecom Corporation Limited and China Mobile Corporation Limited respectively announced their 2022 and recent operating results. By the end of 2022, China Telecom's mobile users reached 391 million, the penetration rate of 5G package users reached 68.5%, and the number of wired broadband users reached 181 million; China Mobile's mobile customers reached 975 million, 5G package customers reached 614 million, and wired broadband customers reached 272 million.

On March 8, China Unicom took the lead in releasing its "2022 Annual Report", detailing its operating conditions in 2022. It is worth noting that China Telecom and China Mobile will announce their 2022 full-year results on March 22 and 23, 2023.

China Telecom: 5G package user penetration rate reaches 68.5%

In 2022, China Telecom will fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, fulfill its mission and responsibility of building a cyber power and digital China and maintaining network security, seize new opportunities for digital development, fully implement the cloud-to-digital transformation strategy, and strive to build a service-oriented, technology-based and security-oriented enterprise, sharing new achievements of high-quality development with shareholders, customers and society.

China Telecom insists on being customer-centric, seizes the development opportunities of strong growth in new consumer demand, strengthens the new supply of digital products, continuously improves service quality, and promotes the steady development of basic businesses. By the end of 2022, China Telecom's mobile users will reach 391 million, the penetration rate of 5G package users will reach 68.5%, and the number of wired broadband users will reach 181 million.

China Telecom actively grasps the demand for comprehensive information services in the networking, digitization and intelligence of the economy and society, and drives the rapid development of the second growth curve with the integration of cloud, AI, security and platform. Tianyi Cloud's market share continues to increase, and it has entered the top three in China's public cloud IaaS and public cloud IaaS+PaaS markets. Emerging businesses such as security, big data, AI, and digital platforms have gradually become new driving forces for the digital development of the industry.

China Telecom attaches great importance to shareholder returns and actively fulfills its profit distribution commitments. It will declare interim dividends from 2022, and will gradually increase the annual cash distribution of profits to more than 70% of the profits attributable to the company's shareholders in that year within three years after the issuance and listing of A shares, continuously creating value for the majority of shareholders.

In 2023, China Telecom will adhere to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, take high-quality development as the theme, digital transformation as the main line, and reform, opening up and innovation as the driving force to comprehensively and deeply implement the cloud-to-digital transformation strategy. In January and February, China Telecom's business development momentum was good, and it continued to move towards a service-oriented, technology-based, and security-oriented enterprise, accelerating the construction of a world-class enterprise.

China Mobile: Net increase in mobile customers hits three-year high

In terms of business performance, in 2022, China Mobile's mobile customer base reached 975 million, with a net increase of 18.11 million, a three-year high. Among them, 5G package customers reached 614 million, and the penetration rate of 5G package customers reached 62.9%. In the home market, China Mobile's wired broadband customers reached 272 million, with a net increase of 32.06 million, continuing to lead the industry.

In the government and enterprise market, China Mobile has achieved a leap in capabilities and strong growth. China Mobile has made new achievements in the cloud and 5G dual engines, successfully created demonstration benchmarks such as government cloud and medical cloud, promoted the full productization of 5G private networks, and achieved industry leadership in multiple sub-industries such as smart mines, smart factories, smart electricity, smart hospitals, smart cities, and autonomous driving.

In the emerging markets, we innovated our layout and achieved rapid growth. China Mobile is committed to providing satisfactory services to customers, and has been persistently deepening the "three-all" services of all aspects, the whole process, and all employees. The service quality and customer experience have been continuously improved, and the "heart-level service" has won wide acclaim.

China Mobile's main operating indicators performed well in 2023. As of January 2023, the company's mobile customers reached 976 million, including 622 million 5G package customers and 275 million wired broadband customers.

Regarding the implementation of the previous share purchase plan, China Mobile stated that its actual controller, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Mobile Group"), plans to increase its holdings of the company's RMB common shares (hereinafter referred to as "A shares"), with the cumulative increase amount not less than RMB 3 billion and not more than RMB 5 billion.

As of 2022, China Mobile Group has accumulated 26,208,210 A shares of the company, with a cumulative increase of approximately RMB 1.509 billion (excluding commissions and transaction taxes). Next, China Mobile Group will continue to implement the increase plan in a timely manner based on the fluctuations of the company's stock price and the overall trend of the capital market.

China Unicom: 5G package user penetration rate reaches 66%

In 2022, China Unicom led the large-scale value of connectivity to achieve new breakthroughs, with more than 320 million mobile bill users, 66% penetration rate of 5G package users, and further improvement of user structure; optimized basic business product structure, mobile user ARPU achieved positive growth for three consecutive years, and user value further increased. Fixed-line broadband bill users exceeded 100 million, with net new users exceeding 8 million for two consecutive years, integrated penetration rate reached 75%, and integrated ARPU exceeded RMB 100 for the first time, further opening up broad development space for the home market.

Industrial Internet continues to press the fast-forward button, with revenue exceeding 70 billion yuan for the first time in 2022, a year-on-year growth of 29%, achieving both scale and growth rate. The value of big connections grows, with the number of IoT connections reaching 390 million, and the new market share of 5G connections approaching 70%, taking the lead in the industry to achieve "Internet of Things" surpassing "Internet of People". Big computing is gaining momentum, and "China Unicom Cloud" continues to double its growth, achieving revenue of 36.1 billion yuan in 2022, a year-on-year growth of 121%. China Unicom Cloud 7.0 version was launched to further strengthen the brand image of "Secure Digital Cloud". Big data continues to lead, achieving revenue of 4 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 58%.

Large-scale applications are taking the lead. By the end of 2022, China Unicom has built a total of 16,000 5G large-scale application projects, replicated the scale to 52 major categories of the national economy, built more than 1,600 5G fully connected factories, and created the first brand of "5G+Industrial Internet", embarking on a new journey from setting sail to steadying the rudder.

As the first central enterprise to respond to the exploration of reshaping the valuation system, China Unicom has performed well in the capital market, with both volume and price rising. The stock price has increased by more than 90% from the low point. Since November last year, the trading volume has been ranked first in the market. China Unicom has actively responded to the reshaping of the valuation system and will bring good returns to shareholders and the market by continuously improving the company's value.