China's mobile subscriber base touches 929.84 million

China's mobile phone subscriber base increased to 929.84 million users in the first seven months of 2011, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said.

China's mobile phone operators added 70.83 million new subscribers in the first seven months of this year, according to the MIIT.

The total business revenue generated by the service providers in the country in the first seven months of 2011, grew by 10.1 per cent year-on-year at  559.46 billion yuan ($87.6 billion).

The total number of third-generation (3G) mobile phone service subscribers expanded to 87.2 million by the end of July, it added.

However, the number of the fixed phone lines fell by about 4.89 million subscribers during the January-July period, indicating that an increasing number of Chinese are relying on their mobile phones as their primary method of communication, , according to statistics released by MIIT said in a statement.

The Chinese telecommunications industry is dominated by three state-run enterprises - China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile.

After China's entry to the WTO in 2001, a new regulatory regime is being put in place and foreign operators are gradually being allowed to access the market.