LIVE FROM GSMA MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS SHANGHAI 2015: The world’s largest mobile operator China Mobile has added 190 million 4G connections in just 18 months since receiving its TD-LTE licence from the government in December 2013.

China Mobile executive VP Li Huidi, speaking at the Global Device Summit this afternoon, said 4G users now account for 21 per cent of its total mobile connection base.

Li noted that the ARPU of 4G users is 3.8 times higher than non-data users, making 4G customers “a much bigger contributor to our profits and revenue”.

The company sold 110 million mobile devices in the first half of the year, hitting more than half of its 210 million full-year target.

The operator is developing cost-effective models priced at about $50 and is pushing its own-brand handsets to customers. It recently launched its first batch of handsets for less than CNY1,000 ($163) that support VoLTE.