HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd. (CHL), the listed arm of China's largest mobile phone operator, said it added 3.097 million new subscribers in February, down from additions of 3.23 million in January.
China Mobile, which uses GSM, or global system for mobile, added 2.974 million prepaid subscribers and 123,000 contract subscribers in February.
At the end of February, the company had 210.62 million subscribers, of which 150.485 million are prepaid and 60.138 million post-paid.
China's Ministry of Information Industry said 58 million new mobile-phone subscribers are expected this year, which would boost the country's mobile penetration rate to 30%.
China is the world's largest telecom market by subscribers, with about 340 million mobile users at the end of January and a mobile penetration rate of 25.9%.
-By Julie Wang, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; julie.wang@dowjones.com
-Edited by Sharon Buan
(END) Dow Jones Newswires "
Posted to the site on 21st March 2005
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/12355.php