A total of 677,000 5G base stations were built by local mobile operators in the first eight months of this year
Chinese mobile operators have already deployed over 2.1 million 5G base stations across the country, local news agency Xinhua reported, citing data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The number of 5G base stations as of the end of August represented 19.8% of total mobile base stations in China, up 5.5 percentage points compared to the end of last year, according to the MIIT.
A total of 677,000 5G base stations were built by local mobile operators in the first eight months of this year, according to the ministry.
By the end of 2021, the number of 5G base stations in the country represented over 60% of the global total, according to figures from China’s National Bureau of Statistics.
Chinese operators recorded a net gain of 26.2 million 5G subscribers last month, according to the carriers’ latest available figures.
China Mobile, the world’s largest operator in terms of subscribers, added a total of 15.08 million 5G subscribers during August. The operator said it ended last month with 538.8 million 5G subscribers.
China Mobile has added a total of 152 million subscribers in the 5G segment since the beginning of the year.
Rival operator China Unicom said it added a total of 4.88 million 5G subscribers during last month. The carrier ended August with 194.83 million 5G subscribers.
Meanwhile, China Telecom added 6.27 million 5G subscribers last month to take its total 5G subscribers base to 243.6 million. Since the beginning of the year, the telco had added a total of 55.8 million 5G subscribers.
All prefecture-level cities, counties and 96% of towns across China currently have 5G network coverage, according to the MIIT.
Also, mobile operators are expected to add a total of 600,000 base stations to boost 5G infrastructure across China during 2022, according to previous reports.
China Mobile, the world’s largest operator in terms subscribers, recently said it had invested a total of CNY58.7 billion ($8.7 billion) in the 5G segment in the first half of the year.
Meanwhile, China Telecom said it expected to deploy an additional 120,000 5G base stations in the second half of the year to take the total to 990,000.
Along with network partner China Unicom, China Telecom increased the number of 5G base stations by 180,000 in the first half, taking the total to 870,000.
China Telecom said it aims to take 5G coverage to all cities, counties, and key villages and towns by the end of the year.
