Operators' operating data in August: 5G package users approach 600 million, with China Mobile accounting for half of the total

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Recently, the three major telecom operators announced the details of their operating data for August: According to calculations, the total number of 5G package users in my country has reached 579 million, with a net increase of 40.94 million users in August alone. Among them, China Mobile's 5G package user number has grown the fastest, with a net increase of nearly 25 million in August, and the total number has exceeded the total of China Telecom and China Union. It can be asserted that China Mobile has continued the glory of the 4G era and continues to shine in the 5G era.

Operational data: China Mobile leads the way

According to public data, in August, the number of operators' users in various main businesses increased significantly compared with other months this year. In terms of net increase in mobile users, China Telecom was surpassed by China Mobile and temporarily left the top spot; at the same time, China Mobile's net increase in broadband users and net increase in 5G package users continued to lead.

Specifically, in August, China Mobile's mobile customer base increased by 3.635 million, with a total of 951.1 million users. In the same month, China Mobile's 5G package customers increased by 24.537 million, totaling 304.145 million. China Mobile said that 5G package customers refer to individual mobile phone customers who have subscribed to 5G tariff packages, excluding customers who have not subscribed to 5G packages and only share 5G package resources. China Mobile's 4G customer base increased by 5.645 million, totaling 811.095 million. In the same month, China Mobile's wired broadband customer base increased by 2.941 million, totaling 231.195 million.

The operating data released by China Telecom shows that in that month, China Telecom's mobile user base increased by 2.18 million, with a total of 366.8 million mobile users. In that month, the net increase in 5G package users was 8.41 million, with a total of 146.62 million 5G package users. In terms of wired broadband business, in that month, China Telecom's wired broadband user base increased by 870,000, with a total of 165.96 million wired broadband users.

China Unicom announced that in August 2021, the number of 5G package users reached 129.061 million, with a net increase of 7.989 million in August. The number of mobile bill users reached 312.953 million, with a net increase of 1.342 million this month. In terms of fixed-line business, the number of fixed-line broadband users reached 91.484 million, with a net increase of 884,000 this month.

China Mobile continues to lead in the 5G era

my country has issued 5G commercial licenses for more than two years. These two years have been a window period for the three major operators to develop users. Now, the user development growth period is about to pass, and the next few months will be a critical period for grasping 5G users. However, overall, the 5G era has basically set the tone, and China Mobile will continue to lead.

So far, my country has built more than 1 million 5G base stations, covering all prefecture-level cities, more than 95% of counties and districts, and 35% of towns. Amid the fierce competition among the three major operators, the vast rural areas have also become a battleground for operators.

On January 26, China Radio and Television and China Mobile signed a "5G Strategy" cooperation agreement in Beijing, officially launching the co-construction and sharing of the 700MHz 5G network. At present, local branches of China Mobile have also started the construction of the 5G 700M project, and some local companies have already built and opened 700M 5G base stations. According to the white paper "Digital Rural Revitalization Plan" released by China Mobile on the 23rd, it is proposed that by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, 5G network coverage of administrative villages will be basically achieved. With the 700M 5G base station, it can be foreseen that this part of the market will also become China Mobile's "private land", and Telecom will have no power to fight back in this part of the market.

Judging from the data alone, China Mobile still has a lot of room for improvement. Although China Unicom's mobile network user scale is smaller than that of China Mobile and China Telecom, China Unicom's 5G user penetration rate is the highest. As of the end of August, China Unicom's 5G user penetration rate was 41.21%, China Telecom was 39.97%, and China Mobile was 31.98%.

It is worth mentioning that the sharing mechanism of the Telecom Union has not yet released its true potential. Starting from September 2019, the two parties carried out the co-construction and sharing of the entire life cycle of the 5G network across the country, realizing "one physical network, two logical networks". After two years of joint efforts, the results are remarkable and the benefits are considerable. As of the end of July, the two parties have opened a total of 517,000 5G shared base stations; the two parties have saved a total of about 80 billion yuan in investment. Although they cannot share a share of the 700M, it is far better to keep warm together than to fight alone. As long as the Telecom Union can continue to unite, its burst of power should not be underestimated.