China To Add 58 Million New Mobile Subscribers '05

SHANGHAI -(Dow Jones)- China expects to add 58 million new mobile phone subscribers this year, a gain that would boost the country's mobile penetration rate to 30%, a state-owned newspaper reports Thursday citing a Ministry of Information Industry official.

The country also expects to add 45 million new fixed-line subscribers in 2005, which would increase its fixed-line penetration rate to 27.6%, MII Minister Wang Xudong said Wednesday, according to the China Securities Journal.

The number of mobile phone users in China reached 334 million in 2004, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Wednesday, citing a MII report. The report didn't mention the number of China's fixed-line subscribers at the end of last year.

The country had 95 million Internet users in 2004, including 25 million users who could access the Internet through a broadband connection, the Xinhua report said.

At the end of 2003, China had 268.69 million mobile phone subscribers and 263.31 million fixed-line subscribers, previously released MII data shows.

China is the world's biggest cellphone market. In 2004, global telecommunications giants, such as Motorola Inc. (MOT) of the U.S. and Finland's Nokia Corp. (NOK), increased their market share in China at the expense of local handset makers, including Ningbo Bird Co. (600130.SH) and TCL Corp. (000100.SZ).

Analysts say these foreign companies have succeeded recently partly by introducing more handsets at a wider range of prices. Previously, local handset makers had grabbed market share from foreign firms in China by offering inexpensive models through deep distribution channels.

China's telecommunications sector is dominated by four state-owned operators. China Telecom Group and China Netcom Group are fixed-line operators, while mobile services are provided by China Mobile Communications Corp. and China United Telecommunications Corp.

-By Jeff Meyer, Dow Jones Newswires; 8621 6218-3268; jeff.meyer@dowjones.com

-Edited by Andrew Bullard

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 13th January 2005