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March 31, 2012

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China surpasses 1 billion mobile phone user base

CHINA reached a milestone last month when its mobile phone user base surpassed 1 billion but the 3G penetration rate was still low at about 14 percent, the industry regulator said yesterday.

In the first two months of this year, China added 21 million new handset users to create a total of 1.01 billion mobile phone users, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said yesterday. The user base is double the combined population of the United States and Japan.

The penetration rate of China, now at 73.6 percent, is still lower than that of the West, where it reaches over 90 percent or even above 100 percent, meaning some people have two or more phones.

"China's large population and emerging middle class make it an increasingly important market," research firm iResearch said in a report.

During January and February, China added 25 million new 3G users to reach a total of 143 million, or 14.3 percent of all mobile phone users, much lower than that of Western countries of 70 to 80 percent, according to the ministry.


 

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