China Telecom added 93 million 5G package subscribers in the year to end-June, accounting for 36.2 per cent of its total user base and helping drive ARPU gains.

Ke Ruiwen, chairman and CEO, stated ARPU had reversed a downward trend during H1. The sum grew 2.9 per cent year-on-year to CNY45.70 ($7.05).

China Telecom ended the period with 131 million 5G package subscribers, up from 37.8 million at end-June 2020. Its overall subscriber base rose 5.4 per cent to 362 million.

Net profit increased 27.2 per cent to CNY17.7 billion, including a one-off after-tax gain of about CNY1.4 million from the disposals of two subsidiaries. Revenue grew 13.1 per cent to CNY219.2 billion, with mobile service increasing 6.9 per cent to CNY93.3 billion.

Capex fell 37.4 per cent to CNY27 billion.

Ke said it is working with China Unicom to improve construction efficiency and coverage of its 5G network, with the number of shared base stations reaching 460,000 and coverage to extend to all counties and developed towns by end-2021. The companies also share 4G infrastructure at all sites.