In step with the annual surge in new subscribers that comes just before the Chinese Lunar New Year, China's top two mobile carriers released their January monthly figures boasting record numbers of new subscribers. China Mobile claimed 4.07 million new subscribers signed up in January, bringing its total to nearly 251 million. That qualifies as the largest monthly uptake since the carrier first began reporting the stats in 2003. China Unicom reported an additional 1.31 million subscribers last month, for a total of 129.1 million subscribers. Analysts say the rise is not indicative of comparable growth the whole year through, but rather the result of an effective marketing campaign that coincided with the Lunar New Year celebrations.
For more on Chinese carriers' record subscriber uptake:
- see this article from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)