China Telecom gained 9.67 million LTE subscribers in Q1 of 2015
Chinese mobile telephony giant China Telecom announced that its 4G base reached 16.75 million subscribers by the end of March. That growth equates to a net addition of 9.67 million 4G LTE subscribers during the first quarter of the year.
China Telecom ended the period with 188.8 million mobile subscribers, 124.8 million were 3G/4G subscribers representing a cumulative net addition of 6.22 million subscribers.
In a note to investors, the operator’s Chairman and CEO Wang Xiaochu said the company will continue to pursue a robust deployment of 4G LTE infrastructure across China.
Xiaochu added that China Telecom will seek synergies between 3G and 4G network infrastructure.
China Telecom previously announced plans to deploy LTE technology nationwide following receipt of a license to operate LTE FDD technology. Until then, the operator had launched 4G through a hybrid TDD/FDD network.
China Telecom is one of three mobile carriers sponsored by the state. The other two are China Mobile and China Unicom.
Regulators in China are working toward an Aug. 15 goal of transferring some 1 million cell towers to a state-backed joint venture comprised of the three carriers.
China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom last year formed China Tower to take ownership of tower assets and assume responsibility for maintenance and operations.
