Unicom results driven by 3G operations

China’s number-two cellco China Unicom continued to benefit from significant growth in its 3G operations during the first quarter of 2012 as it increased revenue and profit for the period.

The operator reported total revenue of CNY61 .2 billion (US$9.7 billion), an increase of 24.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2011. This was accompanied by a five-fold increase in profit, which hit CNY1 billion for the quarter.

Revenue from the mobile business increased by 42.3 per cent to hit CNY40.45 billion, with service revenue of CNY29.26 billion – up 25.6 per cent – and value-added service revenue contributing 39.6 per cent of revenue for the mobile business with CNY11.6 billion.

The net addition of mobile subscribers for the period was 9.8 million, bringing the total number of subscribers to 209.5 million, generating monthly ARPU of CNY47.7.

China Unicom’s 3G business continued to grow rapidly, with service revenue of CNY12.53 billion, accounting for 42.8 per cent of mobile service revenue, up from 24.4 per cent in Q1 2011.

Net additions of 3G subscribers in the first quarter numbered 8.8 million, bringing the total to 48.9 million. 3G ARPU for the period amounted to CNY93.9 with average monthly data usage per user of 242.8MB.

However, the company made a loss on the sale of telecom products of CNY2.03 billion with a 3G handset subsidy cost of CNY1.98 billion, up 3.9 per cent compared to a year earlier.

Revenue from the GSM part of the business was down five per cent compared to 2011, to reach CNY16.73 billion. The net addition of GSM subscribers was just under a million, meaning GSM subscribers totalled 160.6 million at the end of the period. ARPU for the GSM business stood at CNY34.9.