China Unicom income up

China Unicom, the country's second-largest telecom carrier by subscribers, saw net income for the first three quarters of 2014 increase 26.1 percent to 10.56 billion yuan ($1.73 billion), as its high-paying 3G subscriber base continued to grow.

Unicom said total subscribers reached 297.1 million by the end of September, including 145.71 million 3G and 4G LTE users.

The company is still awaiting a full license to operate its next-generation 4G network, which is expected to boost revenue.

Unicom's performance contrasts with that of China Mobile which announced results on Monday, reporting net income for the first nine months fell 9.7 percent as Internet-based messaging apps such as Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat ate into voice and text messaging revenue.