Chinese consumers’ uptake of 4G services showed no sign of decelerating in the first two months of 2017, as the big three operators added 45 million 4G connections to take their total to 807 million.

Market leader China Mobile added 24 million 4G users in January and February taking its total to 559 million, while China Unicom picked up 11 million (total of 116 million) and China Telecom signed up 10 million 4G subs (132 million). The country’s 4G penetration stood at nearly 61 per cent.

The three Chinese state-owned operators’ revenue increased 4.6 per cent to CNY149.2 billion ($21.7 billion) in the first two months of 2017, C114.net reported. Total voice minutes fell 4.8 per cent in the January-February period, and SMS volume dropped 3.4 per cent.

China accounted for 40 per cent of some 2 billion global 4G connections at end-March, according to GSMA Intelligence.