China Unicom to See Majority of its Revenue from 3G Subscribers for First Time [Report]

A report from Bloomberg this evening cites China Unicom (HKG:762) as saying that it expects its 3G revenue to surpass that of its 2G subscriber revenue for the first time this year.

As of the end of April (see table below) the company’s 3G subscriber total sat at 51.8 million, which is still just behind China Mobile which has 61.9 million. China Telecom, the third major carrier, has 45.6 million. The gap between China Unicom and China Mobile is continuing to shrink, and the difference between them stands at just over 10 million subscribers.

Carrier Total Subscribers 3G Subscribers 3G Penetration China Mobile 672.5 million 61.9 million 9.2% China Unicom 212.7 million 51.8 million 24.3% China Telecom 138.5 million 45.6 million 32.9%

China Unicom rolled out higher-speed HSPA+ 3G to its customers earlier in the month, available to any 3G customers whose phone or tablet could support it. The company had long enjoyed being the sole carrier of Apple’s iPhone, until China Telecom recently started carrying it as well. China Mobile is still in talks with Apple about possible cooperative efforts.

As a whole, China now officially has over one billion mobile phone users, a milestone the country surpassed in the first quarter of this year.