Hong Kong registered faster growth in LTE subscriptions than 5G between April and August, data from the Office of the Communications Authority showed.

LTE subscribers hit a low of 15.7 million at end-March and climbed to 17.1 million over the following five months. Meanwhile, 5G numbers grew by 748,000 to 5.8 million.

Nicole McCormick, senior principal analyst for 5G and broadband at Omdia, told Mobile World Live it is somewhat surprising 4G has stolen the show of late, suggesting “the root cause could boil down to cost-of-living challenges, as 5G subscribers do need a new smartphone”.

She added with 5G penetration approaching 50 per cent, Hong Kong operators need to continue to lure the masses, but they already offer many enticements including smartphone discounts and online sales.

In the 12 months to end-August, 5G users increased by nearly 1.6 million, 4G declined by a little more than 500,000 and 3G fell 413,000 to about 656,000.

Per capita mobile data usage grew 25.2 per cent year-on-year to 24.2GB a month.

Machine-type connections increased 28.4 per cent to about 572,000.

In 2013, the territory had 9.9 million 3G connections and 2.2 million 4G. Since then, overall mobile broadband connections nearly doubled to 23.4 million. .