The state-owned Chinese telecommunications company China Telecom reported its net profit for the first half of 2020 has hit 13.95 billion yuan ($2.01 billion), increasing 0.3 % from a year earlier.
According to the mobile operator, operating revenue climbed 1.7 % to 193.80 billion yuan, and service revenues, the company's largest source of income, reached 187.11 billion yuan, rising 2.5 % year-on-year.
The total number of mobile subscribers reached 362 million, representing a net addition of 11.47 million. The number of 5G package subscribers reached 131 million with a penetration rate of 36.2%, which continued to surpass the industry average level, said a press release.
For future targets in 2020, the telecom operator expected mobile subscribers could expand by 15 million, with 5G package subs adding 80 million.
The number of 5G feature-app subscribers increased rapidly, while users upgrading to 5G maintained sound value growth. Mobile ARPU has reversed its downward trend and continued to increase, which amounted to RMB45.7, representing an increase of 2.9% over the same period of last year. The growth rate further improved over that of the first quarter.
"Based on its cloud-network integration capabilities, the Company created the ‘‘Triple-Gigabit’’ubiquitous connectivity services, comprising 5G+Fibre Broadband+WiFi6. The Company built a Smart Family platform that aggregates different industry ecologies such as content, applications, and smart home devices," the release added.
