China Broadnet had reached the 1 million 5G subscriber mark in October last year
Chinese operator China Broadnet reached 9 million 5G package subscribers twelve months after launching the service and aims to increase its 5G customer base to 50 million in three years, local news site DVBCN reported.
The telco’s deputy General Manager, Zeng Qingjun, said that China Broadnet already deployed a total of 480,000 700 MHz base stations last year in partnership with China Mobile. Zeng also said that the company currently provides 5G coverage in 31 provincial-level administrative regions across China.
China Broadnet had reached the 1 million 5G subscriber mark in October last year. The operator became the country’s fourth operator when formally inaugurated in 2020, having previously acquired a license for commercial 5G services in 2019. The carrier was initially known as China Broadcasting Network before rebranding in 2022.
It was granted a 5G license in June 2019, after it secured 80 megahertz of 700 MHz spectrum and 100 megahertz of spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band.
In May 2020, the company had announced plans to deploy a nationwide 700 MHz 5G network in cooperation with China Mobile.
Under the terms of the deal, China Broadnet has access to China Mobile’s 2.6 GHz network and receives guidance and investment from the mobile operator. China Mobile will share its 2.6 GHz network on a paid basis, with China Broadnet able to access its 2G, 4G and 5G infrastructure prior to the launch of the 700 MHz network.
China Broadnet’s five largest shareholders are China Broadcasting Network Corporation, with a 51% stake, State Grid Information & Telecommunication, Alibaba Venture Capital Management, Guangdong Radio Television Network and Beijing All Media and Culture.
China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom ended April with a total of 2.7 million 5G base stations and 1.2 billion 5G package subscribers, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Chinese operators installed a total of 2.73 million base stations, according to recent official data. According to the Chinese government, these 5G base stations accounted for 24.5% of the country’s overall mobile base stations.
China’s Eastern region is taking the lead in 5G construction, with 1.29 million 5G base stations at the end of April, accounting for over 47% of the country’s total, the government said.
The ministry previously predicted the number of 5G base stations in China will hit 2.9 million at the end of this year.
