Rise in 3G subscribers but telephone users drop

China added 8.18 million 3G mobile service subscribers in January, bringing its total number of 3G users to 136.6 million, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Wednesday.

The number of telephone subscribers gained 9.94 million in January to 1.28 billion, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The number of fixed-line subscribers fell by 409,000 to 284.7 million, while mobile phone users gained by 10.35 million to 996.6 million.

The number of broadband Internet users rose by 2.51 million in January to 152.51 million, while the number of dial-up connection users fell by 5,000 to 5.5 million.

The main business revenues for China's telecommunication industry saw a 12.2 percent annual growth in January to 81.63 billion yuan (US$12.89 billion), the ministry said.

Revenues for mobile communications rose 18.2 percent year on year to 58.87 billion yuan, accounting for 72.12 percent of the telecom industry's main business revenues, it said.