Mobile operators in China likely breached the 1 billion 5G network subscriber milestone in November after collectively reaching 995 million at end-October, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom and China Broadnet added 173 million new 5G users year-on-year in October, taking penetration to 55.6 per cent.

Assuming monthly additions, which averaged 14.4 million in the year to end-October, topped 5 million last month, the country’s total would have surpassed 1 billion.

China Mobile ended October with 545.7 million 5G network users, those with both compatible handsets and service packages, up by more than 6 million on September. It started disclosing the numbers in March.

Rivals China Telecom, China Unicom and China Broadnet only report 5G package subscribers, those with service only.

The operators deployed 764,000 5G base stations since the start of 2024, taking the total to 4.1 million.

GSMA Intelligence data showed India is the world’s second-largest 5G market, with 220.4 million users at end-September. Reliance Jio led with nearly 120 million.