Boosting adoption instrumental to China's 3G progress

Sources: China Knowledge, NetworkWorld.com, Research and Markets

Since the issue of 3G licenses in 2009, China's telecom industry has effectively set up a three-way contest, and the competition of the telecom industry has entered a new stage of development. The development of the industry so far is observed to be driven by investment. Since 2010, China's investment in 3G has been reduced gradually, and the telecom industry is now entering a "post-3G" era. Additionally, there will be a slowdown of investment-led growth, and the development of the telecom industry will be driven mainly by consumption.

However, consumption in the country is still not optimal. While more people in China are adopting 3G service on their mobile phones, the next generation network is still far from becoming mainstream among users in the country. At the end of October, China had 38.6 million 3G mobile users, almost 300% up from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. However, that is only a small fraction of China's total mobile phone user base, which now stands at more than 800 million. This also means that the potential for growth is immense.