The World’s largest mobile operator has announced its intentions to double its VoLTE user base by the end of 2017. Chairman of China Mobile, Shang Bing made the announcement during his keynote address at Mobile World Congress Shanghai. (MWCS 2017)
Bing declared that China Mobile would increase its VoLTE customer base from 86 million to 150 million by the end of December – and that its overall VoLTE penetration would reach 17%. In addition to this, it was disclosed that the telecommunications colossus has launched VoLTE in 313 cities across China.
China Mobile’s Chairman also claimed that the operator’s mobile 4G user base will reach 620 million by the end of 2017 – with overall 4G penetration hitting a staggering 72%. It has been reported that the China Mobile has invested an estimated CNY450 billion ($66 billion) in the last three years to construct the world’s largest 4G network. Its 4G customer base reached 583 million in May of this year – with penetration rates standing at 67.5%. In broad terms it means that basically one in four 4G users in the entire world is a China Mobile customer.
Bing said: “We’ve deployed 1.6 million 4G base stations which accounts for about 30% of the global total. Our 4G coverage will reach 99% of the population by the end of the year – and our LTE base station will rise to 1.77 million.”
He conceded that after an initiative pursued by the Chinese government overall mobile phone bills fell by around 60% in 2015, and that household monthly broadband fees declined from CYN51 to CYN32.7. Bing added: “Our cost-reduction initiatives have boosted information consumption and the information economy.”
He concluded by announcing that the operator aims for its broadband coverage to reach 70% of households by the end of 2017, with fiber making up about 90% of the market.
