China’s two largest mobile operators ended June with 108 million 5G subscribers, after adding a combined 22.4 million during the month.

China Mobile picked up 14.6 million, closing the month with 70.2 million, while China Telecom signed up 7.8 million to take its tally to 37.8 million and giving it a penetration rate of 11 per cent.

Third-ranked China Unicom has not released 5G figures in 2020.

In the January to June period its user base contracted by 9 million to 309.5 million. It signed up 6.9 million LTE subscribers to end June with 260.7.

China Mobile’s overall subscribers slipped by 3.6 million in the six-month period to 946.7 million. China Telecom’s total increased by 7.9 million to 343.5 million.