Earlier this 12 months, China Cellular hit one billion cellular subscriptions.
In a rustic of greater than 1.4 billion folks, this may increasingly not seem to be a exceptional milestone. Nonetheless, the following largest nationwide cellco, Reliance Jio in India, has lower than half of this quantity—round 476 million subscriptions as of mid-2024.
Let’s take a more in-depth take a look at China Cellular and the opposite large operators.
China Cellular’s Fast Progress
Though the years of its strongest progress are lengthy gone, China Cellular continues so as to add to its subscription complete quarter-on-quarter.
After launching its first companies in 1997, the state-backed firm did not hit 200 million subscriptions till This fall 2004. As take-up quickened, it reached 400 million subscriptions in Q2 2008 and 600 million by Q1 2011.
Dominant Place
Chinese language Cellular Market Subscription Progress 2004-2024
Progress started to gradual because the market turned more and more saturated. After China Cellular reached the 800 million milestone in This fall 2014, it took almost one other decade to hit one billion in Q2 2024.
3G and 4G
China Cellular presents 3G, 4G, and 5G companies alongside three home rivals: China Telecom, China Unicom, and the newest market entrant, China Broadnet.
Though initially in favor of buying a 3G license primarily based on W-CDMA expertise, in March 2007, China Cellular as an alternative backed the home-grown TD-SCDMA platform and began trials of the expertise in April 2008. It was granted a full TD-SCDMA concession in January 2009, launching business companies the identical month.
Nonetheless, utilizing the TD-SCDMA commonplace for its 3G networks hamstrung the cellco’s progress. Whereas the W-CDMA and CDMA2000 techniques utilized by Unicom and Telecom noticed widespread worldwide adoption, the homegrown equal didn’t catch on elsewhere, leaving China Cellular to prop up the expertise’s ecosystem single-handedly.
Nearly instantly after its 3G launch, China Cellular started engaged on its 4G answer, beginning trials of TD-LTE in 2010. Studying from previous errors, China Cellular was one of the crucial outstanding advocates of the TD-LTE commonplace over various 4G platforms, and the cellco helped set up the International TD-LTE Initiative to coordinate worldwide cooperation amongst suppliers and distributors.
China Cellular lastly obtained its TD-LTE license in early December 2013, paving the way in which for the launch of economic companies in 16 cities later that month. In April 2018, it was permitted to offer FDD-LTE companies and the cellco refarmed frequencies within the 1800MHz band—beforehand used for its 2G system—for the community.
By the tip of 2014, 4G subscriptions comprised 11.2% of China Cellular’s cellular accounts, rising to 63.0% two years later and 74.9% by December 2018.
5G’s Robust Begin
As with its strategy to 4G, China Cellular was extremely concerned in growing 5G applied sciences, working alongside distributors and technical requirements and specs physique 3GPP from early on.
After being awarded a 5G working license in June 2019, China Cellular was capable of provide business companies with the frequencies it was assigned within the 2.5GHz and 4.7GHz bands on a trial foundation in December 2018. The cellco launched full 5G companies in 50 cities on October 31, 2019.
By the tip of 2023, China Cellular’s 5G community spanned some 1.94 million 5G base stations, up from 1.29 million a 12 months earlier, 730,000 in 2021, and 390,000 on the finish of 2020. It goals to extend that determine to 2.35 million by end-2024.
By the tip of 2023, China Cellular’s 5G community spanned some 1.94 million 5G base stations, up from 1.29 million a 12 months earlier, 730,000 in 2021, and 390,000 on the finish of 2020. It goals to extend that determine to 2.35 million by end-2024.
In subscription phrases, China Cellular claimed 514 million lively 5G community customers by mid-2024, up from 393 million 12 months earlier. 5G now makes up greater than half of its subscription base.
Common month-to-month knowledge utilization by 5G prospects in 2023 was 25 GB, representing a slight improve from 24.7 GB a 12 months earlier and 22 GB in 2021. In the meantime, ARPU for a similar accounts decreased barely to CNY78.2 ($11) from CNY81.5 in 2022.
In contrast, knowledge utilization and ARPU for the cellco’s complete cellular subscription base have been 15.9GB (14.1GB in 2022) and CNY49.3 (CNY49.0), respectively.
The Remainder of the High 20
Two of China Cellular’s home opponents—China Telecom and China Unicom—sit within the third and fifth positions, respectively, in a rating of the world’s largest wi-fi operators. Telecom claimed 417 million subscriptions by mid-2024, forward of Unicom with round 339 million.
Sticking with Asia, operators from India make up the opposite three gamers within the high six, with the aforementioned Reliance Jio forward of Bharti Airtel (389 million subscriptions) and Vi (217 million).
Cellular Rating
High 20 Largest Cellcos Worldwide, June 2024
| Rank | Nation | Firm | Cellular Subscriptions |
| 1. | China | China Cellular | 1,000,256,000 |
| 2. | India | Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) | 476,527,220 |
| 3. | China | China Telecom Company | 416,850,000 |
| 4. | India | Bharti Airtel | 389,020,497 |
| 5. | China | China Unicom | 339,390,000 |
| 6. | India | Vi (Vodafone Concept Restricted, VIL) | 217,296,787 |
| 7. | Indonesia | Telkomsel (Telekomunikasi Selular) | 159,882,000 |
| 8. | United States | T-Cellular US | 145,893,000 |
| 9. | United States | Verizon Wi-fi | 144,466,000 |
| 10. | United States | AT&T Communications | 115,474,000 |
| 11. | Indonesia | Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) | 100,900,000 |
| 12. | Japan | NTT DOCOMO | 88,964,000 |
| 13. | India | Bharat Sanchar Nigam Restricted (BSNL) | 85,769,037 |
| 14. | Bangladesh | GrameenPhone (GP) | 85,275,684 |
| 15. | Brazil | Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) | 84,386,908 |
| 16. | Mexico | Radiomovil Dipsa (Telcel) | 84,199,000 |
| 17. | Nigeria | MTN Nigeria | 79,393,000 |
| 18. | Iran | Cellular Communication Firm of Iran (MCI) | 76,500,000 |
| 19. | Ethiopia | Ethio Telecom | 75,600,000 |
| 20. | Russia | Cellular TeleSystems (MTS) | 73,890,000 |
Supply: TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database
After Telkomsel of Indonesia within the seventh spot are three cellcos from the U.S. The biggest is T-Cellular (146 million subscriptions on the finish of June 2024), then Verizon Wi-fi (144 million) and AT&T (115 million).
Latin America contributes two operators to the highest 20—specifically, Vivo of Brazil and Telcel of Mexico. There are additionally two gamers representing Africa: MTN Nigeria within the seventeenth spot and Ethio Telecom from Ethiopia in nineteenth.
In the meantime, the Center East and Europe every declare one entry—Cellular Communication Firm of Iran (MCI) and MTS in Russia.
Mixed, the highest 20 cellular operators on the earth accounted for nearly half (48%) of all subscriptions globally (8.8 billion) as of mid-2024.
Mixed, the highest 20 cellular operators on the earth accounted for nearly half (48%) of all subscriptions globally (8.8 billion) as of mid-2024.
Extra data on cellular markets worldwide could be present in TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database.
