The annual financial performance report from China Mobile has indicated that its investment for 5G network expansion and the focus on new business models are driving growth.
China Mobile has reported operating revenue of RMB1,040.8 billion for 2024, reflecting a 3.1 percent growth, with telecommunications services revenue contributing RMB889.5 billion, up 3.0 percent.
China Mobile recorded 3,670 million connections, adding 316 million new connections. Revenue from the HBN markets comprised 45.6 percent of telecommunications services revenue, marking a 2.4 percentage-point increase. Digital transformation revenue grew by 9.9 percent to RMB278.8 billion, contributing 31.3 percent to telecommunications services revenue, an increase of 1.9 percentage points from the prior year.
China Mobile’s capital expenditure in 2024 totaled RMB164.0 billion, accounting for 18.4 percent of telecommunications services revenue, a decrease of 2.5 percentage points.
5G
The “Customer” market revenue reached RMB483.7 billion, with mobile customers exceeding 1.0 billion, reflecting a net increase of 13.32 million. Among them, 5G network customers reached 552 million, a net increase of 88 million, making up 55.0 percent of the total customer base.
Personal China Mobile Cloud Drive revenue grew 12.6 percent year-on-year to RMB8.9 billion, while revenue from integrated-benefit products increased 19.7 percent to RMB26.8 billion. Monthly active customers using 5G New Calling across all platforms reached 150 million, including 34.75 million smart application subscribers. Mobile ARPU remained industry-leading at RMB48.5.
Broadband
China Mobile’s “Home” market revenue grew 8.5 percent to RMB143.1 billion. Household broadband customers reached an industry-leading 278 million, with a net increase of 14.05 million. Gigabit broadband customers rose 25.0 percent to 99 million, while FTTR customers surged 376 percent to 10.63 million. AI+ Mobile Home Security customers reached 12.80 million. Household customer blended ARPU increased 1.6 percent to RMB43.8. China Mobile promoted upgrades to “gigabit + FTTR” connections and the expansion of AI+ smart home applications and services.
Business
China Mobile’s “Business” market revenue grew 8.8 percent to RMB209.1 billion, with the corporate customer base expanding by 4.22 million to 32.59 million. The company secured 16.6 percent of contracts in open tenders and introduced 99 standardized, product-driven, and platform-based solutions leveraging proprietary capabilities. China Mobile Cloud revenue surged 20.4 percent to RMB100.4 billion.
China Mobile won more than 700 large-scale 5G DICT projects, each with a commercial value of more than RMB10 million. 5G dedicated network revenue reached RMB8.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 61.0 percent.
Capex
In 2024, China Mobile’s total capital expenditure (Capex) reached RMB164 billion, with a Capex-to-revenue ratio of 18.4 percent, down 2.5 percentage points. The company maintained a leading position in its “dual gigabit” network, deploying over 2.4 million 5G base stations. It built the world’s first large-scale commercial 5G-A network, achieving nationwide RedCap coverage and gigabit broadband access for 480 million households.
China Mobile’s computility network remained industry-leading, with intelligent computing capacity reaching 29.2 EFLOPS, a net increase of 19.1 EFLOPS. Mega-scale intelligent computing centers with 10K-level processor capacity in Hohhot and Harbin began operations. The company’s 400G backbone OTN was recognized among the “Top 10 mega-projects of China’s Central SOEs in 2024.” Data centers were upgraded to AIDC, and integration platform applications expanded, with 1,348 capabilities launched and total deployments reaching 777.6 billion.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
