How Did The Three Chinese Wireless Carriers Fare In January?

+14.02%
Upside
6.03
Market
6.88
Trefis
CHU: China Unicom logo
CHU
China Unicom

January 2016 proved to be a good month for the Chinese wireless industry. China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) saw a turnaround of sorts, posting 5.2 million net subscriber adds, after 11 straight months of subscriber losses. The growth was driven by higher promotional activity and the carrier’s improving 4G network. ((China Unicom Operating Data)) However, there may have been some moving parts in the carrier’s report, as it now publishes “mobile billing subscribers” – which refers to subscribers who have revenue contribution in the current month-  rather than its overall base of subscribers.

Market leader China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) also fared quite well, adding a net of 2.3 million subscribers and a whopping 23 million 4G users. [1] China Telecom (NYSE:CHA), the smallest of the three major wireless carriers, saw subscriber adds slow down slightly to about 1.1 million, possibly due to a lower supply of defecting customers from China Unicom. [2]

Chinese_Wireless_Jan16

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Notes:
  1. China Mobile Operating Data []
  2. China Telecom Key Performance Indicators []