Latest data from China’s three major mobile operators shows they added a record 42.6 million 5G package subscribers in June, taking the country’s total to 495.1 million.

For the first six months of 2021, the three signed up an average of 28.8 million 5G subscribers a month.

China Mobile led the charge, picking up 28.5 million 5G subscribers in June for a total of 250.7 million. It averaged 14.3 million additions a month in H1.

China Unicom’s 5G subscribers increased by 7.2 million in June to 113.3 million, while China Telecom’s rose 6.7 million to 131.1 million.

Since the beginning of the year, China Telecom added 44.7 million and China Unicom 42.5 million.

China Mobile’s overall subscribers fell by 1.2 million year-on-year to 945.5 million; China Telecom’s rose 19 million to 362.5 million; and China Unicom added 1 million to end June with 310.5 million.

The trio launched 5G services in late October 2019.