China Unicom adds 20M wireless customers in 2010

China Unicom Ltd. (CHU) said it added nearly 20 million customers last year, pushing China’s second largest operator’s customer base to more than 167 million subscribers.
The carrier said the growth was dominated by its W-CDMA-based 3G offering that attracted 11.3 million customers and ended the year with a total of 14.06 million subscribers. Those 3G customers posted an average revenue per user per month of $19 with total 3G service revenues toping $1.7 billion for the year.
For its legacy GSM-based 2G service, China Unicom said it added 8.5 million new subscribers last year, pushing its total customer base to 153.4 million subscribers. Those customers posted an ARPU per month of just over $6, or a 4.1% drop from 2009, with total 2G service revenues increasing 2.6% to $10.8 billion.
Overall, China Unicom noted that wireless revenues increased more than 24% year-over-year and made up more than 50% of the company’s total revenues.
China Mobile Ltd. (CHL), the world’s largest wireless operator, announced earlier this month that it added nearly 62 million customers in 2010, ending the year with 584 million total subscribers.