China Mobile's profits rise 51%; 3G expansion planned

After reducing prices to attract users, China Mobile increased its second-quarter profits by 51, higher than analysts had predicted, Bloomberg reported. China Mobile, the world’s biggest phone company by market value, saw its net income jump to a record US$4.5 billion from last year’s US$2.96 billion. Its shares rose after profits beat the US$4.14 billion median of seven analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey. China Mobile added 22.7 million customers. Meanwhile, China Mobile said it will launch 3G mobile services in 38 cities across the mainland by June next year. The company announced its plan two days after smaller competitor China Unicom said it would launch 3G in 50 cities within two years.