China Mobile, Telecom see slowing growth

Two of China’s telecom carriers posted first quarter results that indicate that China’s once-sizzling telecom sector is beginning to mature, the Wall Street Journal reported. China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile network operator in terms of subscribers, saw first quarter net profits grow by 5.2% to US$3.69 billion. But new subscriber growth slowed as the company added 6.49 million users in March, down from 6.75 million in February, with low-end users representing the majority of new subscribers. China Telecom, the country’s largest fixed-line operator by subscriber base, said its net profit in the first quarter fell 27% year-on-year to US$687.7 million, as subscribers left its fixed-line service in favor of mobile service. China Telecom added 2.21 million mobile subscribers in March, up from 1.7 million in February. However the company saw its fixed-line user base decrease by 4.35 million in the quarter.