Network
China Mobile operates a GSM network,[55] which encompasses all 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and directly administered municipalities in mainland China and includes Hong Kong, too.[7] GPRS is utilized for data transmission.[56]
Marketed as "G3", the company controls 70% of the Chinese mobile market but a far smaller percentage of the 3G market. As of May 2012, its nearly 60 million 3G subscribers account for roughly 9% of its total subscriber base, which is an increase from 3% in 2010.[57]
Its 3G network, still under construction in 2010, utilizes the TD-SCDMA standard, which China Mobile helped develop. 3G service is available in all of the 4 direct-controlled municipalities and most of the 283 prefecture-level cities in China as of 2010.
Marketed as "and和", as of 2010, China Mobile has debuted small-scale 4G demonstration networks using a variant of 3GPP's Long Term Evolution, TD-LTE, and has plans for larger, citywide demonstration networks in the future.[58] As of May 2012, such networks are in operation.
While prior iPhone models could not use the China Mobile network due to the chipset relying on WCDMA-based networks, talks to carry the then unreleased 4G iPhone (iPhone 5) began in mid-2012.[59] The iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s were sold through China Mobile starting in January 2014.[60]
China Mobile is developing a 5G service marketed as 5G++. As part of this development, Huawei has been awarded 52 percent of 5G contracts in 2023 (estimated at 45,426 base stations).[61]
In 2003 and again in 2007, China Mobile provided mobile services on Mount Everest.[62]
In May 2011, China Mobile announced its network now includes the controversial Spratly Islands.[63]
