China telecom market resurgence expected to follow the long-awaited easing of COVID-19 lockdowns
Housing the world's largest population, China is also home to the world's largest telecoms markets for fixed-line telephony, VoIP telephony, and mobile and at least in terms of the total number of subscribers. Penetration rates in each segment are more modest, however, and therefore there is still significant opportunity for further growth.China has three integrated telcos and China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom and which provide a semblance of competition across the vast market. But the country's telecoms sector is perhaps best characterised by the dominant role the central government plays in planning where to invest in infrastructure as well as in research to keep China at the forefront of the industry. Despite the challenges in Western markets faced by China's major telecom equipment manufacturers (Huawei and ZTE) as well as the offshore subsidiaries of its telcos, China is already working on the development of 6G with the goal of securing lucrative patents as well as influencing the coming standards process.
China Mobile dominates the mobile market with 58% market share, although that has been slowly declining over the years as China Telecom has started to pick up the pace. The latter is also performing well in the fast-growing fixed broadband market, to the point where that segment produces twice as much revenue for the telco as does mobile broadband. With fixed broadband penetration doubling in the last seven years to reach 39% in 2022, China now also has the largest number of broadband connections in the world. The vast majority of these are fibre as a result of aggressive deployment programs by both China Telecom and China Unicom in a bid to offset the decline in the number of fixed-line telephony subscribers. Such is the success of their initiatives that fixed-line teledensity has stabilised at 12.7%, and the fixed segment's share of overall telecom sector revenue has actually increased during the last decade to more than one third of the total.
In the mobile segment, growth has been on a much slower trajectory of late, partly due to the relative maturity and saturation of the market in some areas, but also because of the COVID-19 crisis putting a heavy brake on the mobile broadband market in particular. Renewed growth is likely to occur following the easing of lockdowns that will allow greater mobility outside of the home, as well as the wider promotion of 5G handsets and services as the telcos continue with their rollout plans.
This report update includes telcos operating data and CAICT industry data to March 2022; Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses; an assessment of the global impact of COVID-19 on the telecoms sector; and other recent market developments.
Key Developments:
China Telecom Americas and China Unicom Americas both forced by the FCC to shut operations down in the US on the back of security concerns.The 15,000km Peace cable linking China to Europe and Africa lands in Kenya.
Dr Peng Group, the majority-owner of the US-Hong Kong undersea cable venture, announces its withdrawal from the project, after the DoJ denies authorisation.
GalaxySpace launches the first of China's proposed ˜mega-constellation of LEO satellites.
Key companies mentioned in this report:
China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, China Broadcasting Network, China Tower, CITIC Networks, GalaxySpace. China Satcom, China Direct Broadcast Satellite.This product will be updated with the latest data at the time of order. Consequently, dispatch time for this product will be 7-10 business days.
Table of Contents
- Key statistics
- Regional Asia market comparison
- Market characteristics
- Market Leaders
- Market Challengers
- Market Emergents
- TMI vs GDP
- Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
- Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration
- COVID-19 and its impact on the telecom sector
- Economic considerations and responses
- Subscribers
- Infrastructure
- Telecommunications market
- Regulatory environment
- Regulatory authority
- Ministry of Information Industry (MII)
- Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)
- China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC)
- Government policies
- Private investment in state-controlled industries
- Broadband China
- Fixed-line developments
- Licensing
- Interconnect
- Universal Service Obligation (USO)
- Mobile network developments
- Licensing
- Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
- Roaming
- Mobile market
- Mobile broadband
- Mobile infrastructure
- 6G
- 5G
- 4G/LTE
- 3G
- GSM
- Major mobile operators
- China Mobile
- China Telecom
- China Unicom
- MVNOs
- Fixed-line broadband market
- Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
- China Telecom
- China Unicom
- China Mobile
- Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks
- Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
- Fixed wireless
- Digital economy
- Fixed network market
- Major network operators
- China Telecom
- China Unicom
- China Mobile
- Telecommunications infrastructure
- National telecom network
- China Tower
- CITIC Networks
- International infrastructure
- Terrestrial and submarine cable infrastructure
- Satellite infrastructure
- IoT
- Glossary of abbreviations
- Related reports
List of Tables
List of Charts
List of Exhibits
