Mobile growth actually slowed

China Mobile and China Unicom together added 4.61 million new subscribers last month, fewer than the average 5 million new monthly subscribers the two companies normally sign up. Last week a state media report carried here said China Mobile added more subscribers in July than in the preceding June, but that number included users inherited from acquisition of two CM parent-company networks operating in 10 provinces. New CM subscribers in July added up to only 2.6 million, the lowest number added in 12 months. Between CM and China Unicom, China's total mobile population now stands at 292.6 million, of which CM claims a subscriber base of 188.4 million. Slower growth is blamed on new Ministry of Information Industry rules limiting discounts.