The Ministry of Information Industry estimates that the number of cellphone users in China will grow by 55m during 2002 to exceed 200m by the end of the year. The figure indicated a slowdown from last year’s rapid average monthly growth rate of 5.1m new users. The ministry estimated that fixedline users in China, now about 179m, would also hit 200m by the end of 2002.
China Unicom, the country’s number two mobile phone carrier, said it had 27.03m subscribers at the end of last year.