China Mobile Group reported a "favourable development" in its mobile business for the first three quarters of 2016. Growth was mainly boosted by the group’s efforts to consolidate its 4G position and accelerate the migration of customers to 4G networks, the company said. China Mobile ended September with a total mobile customer base of 844 million, representing a net increase of 17.42 million for the first three quarters. Mobile ARPU rose 1.7 percent year-on-year to CNY 60.
4G subscribers accounted for 481 million of China Mobile’s overall mobile customer base, representing a net increase of 168 million for the first three quarters. Handset data traffic jumped 131 percent year-on-year. China Mobile ended September with 74.24 million wireline broadband customers. The number of net additional wireline broadband customers for the first three quarters was 19.21 million with ARPU stable at CNY 33.
In the first three quarters of 2016, revenue from the group’s telecommunications services grew by 5.4 percent year-on-year to CNY 481.2 billion. Revenue from product sales decreased by 3.5 percent year-on-year to CNY 61.5 billion.
Operating revenue amounted to CNY 542.7 billion, up by 4.3 percent over the same period of 2015. EBITDA for the first three quarters of 2016 reached CNY 200.4 billion, which represents an increase of 1.3 percent year-on-year. Net profit was CNY 88.1 billion, up by 3.1 percent compared to the same period last year.
