LIVE FROM MOBILE ASIA EXPO 2014: Xi Guohua, chairman of China Mobile, used his keynote presentation at Mobile Asia Expo to update on the company’s 4G progress, including its “very ambitious goal” of having 50 million subscribers signed up for LTE services in the not too distant future.

In order to achieve this, the executive said that the company will “continuously lower the cost” of services, following reports that last month it had boosted data allowances without increasing prices.

Xi said that the continued rollout of its 4G network is a “top priority”, alongside continued enhancement for its 3G infrastructure and the use of WiFi for data offload.

China Mobile is looking to extend its coverage to include more than 500,000 base stations providing coverage in 340 cities in the near future.

Noting that at the moment the company’s 4G smartphone portfolio is focused at the high end, he noted that China Mobile is considering offering more devices targeting mass-market users, in order to enable more customers to join the network.

China Mobile has previously offered own-brand devices, with the chairman noting that the purpose of this is “not to make money – because we are an operator.”

“The purpose is so that users can have a better experience, and enjoy more affordable phones,” he said.

Echoing comments made yesterday by Terry Gou, CEO of device maker Foxconn, the China Mobile head noted that success in the ever-evolving telecoms market comes from offering an integrated product, connectivity and services ecosystem.

“Network, terminal and content are the key things, and we need to combine them in a cohesive environment”.

Touching on the rise of so-called over-the-top internet services companies, the executive noted that this has “driven the transformation of traditional telecoms services”.

“We know that the mobile internet is very beneficial for increasing the living standards of the people. And we, as traditional operators, have no choice but to embrace the competition”.

And observing that operators are being challenged in what has traditionally been seen as their core markets, Xi said that “we are lucky because we now have some new areas for development”.