China Mobile

China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited (Chinese: 中国移动有限公司; pinyin: Zhōngguó Yídòng Yǒu Xiàn Gōngsī) and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 中国移动通信集团有限公司; pinyin: Zhōngguó Yídòng Tōngxìn Jítuán Gōngsī, formerly known as China Mobile Communications Corporation, "CMCC"), a Chinese state-owned[5] company. China Mobile Limited provides mobile voice and multimedia services through its nationwide mobile telecommunications network across mainland China and Hong Kong.[2] China Mobile is the largest wireless carrier in China, with 945.50 million subscribers as of June 2021.[6]

China Mobile Limited
中国移动有限公司
TypePublic; State-owned enterprise
  • SEHK: 941
  • Hang Seng Index Component
ISINHK0941009539
IndustryTelecommunications
PredecessorChina Telecom (Hong Kong) Limited[1]
Founded3 September 1997 (1997-09-03)[2]
HeadquartersBeijing, China
Shanghai, China
Area served
Key people
Yang Jie (Chairman)
Li Yue (CEO)[3]
Services
Revenue CN¥ 746 billion
(US$108 billion) (2019)
CN¥ 107 billion (2019)
Total assets CNY¥ 1.629 trillion (2019)
Total equity CN¥ 1.104 trillion (2019)
OwnerGovernment of China (72.72%)[4]: 65 
Number of employees
456,239[4]: 5  (2019)
ParentChina Mobile Communications Group
Subsidiaries
CMHK(100%)
Zong
CMLink
Websitewww.10086.cn
www.chinamobileltd.com
Footnotes / references
Source of the financial figures: the consolidated financial statements[4]
China Mobile Limited
Simplified Chinese中国移动有限公司
Traditional Chinese中國移動有限公司
China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd.
Simplified Chinese中国移动通信集团有限公司
Traditional Chinese中國移動通信集團有限公司
Second alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese中国移动
Traditional Chinese中國移動
Literal meaningChina Mobile

China Mobile Limited is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.[2] It is the world's largest mobile network operator by total number of subscribers.[7]

As of 31 October 2020, China Mobile Limited's total market value stood at HK$965 billion, which is the largest red chip company.[8]

History

Incorporated in 1997 as China Telecom (Hong Kong) Limited,[1] China Mobile was born from the 1999 break-up of China Telecommunications Corporation.[9] This company continues to provide mobile services, however.[10]

In May 2008, the company took over China Tietong, a fixed-line telecom[11] and the then third-largest broadband ISP in China[12] adding Internet services to its core business of mobile services.

In October 2014, Nokia and China Mobile signed a $970 million framework deal for delivery between 2014 and 2015.[13]

In December 2021, China Mobile announced that its international arm would cease operations in Canada due to national security concerns by the Canadian government.[14]

U.S. sanctions

In November 2020, President Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting any American company or individual from owning shares in companies that the United States Department of Defense has listed as having links to the People's Liberation Army, which included China Mobile.[15][16][17] On 31 December 2020, the New York Stock Exchange announced that it would suspend trading in China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom from 7 to 11 January 2021 and start the delisting process, causing stock values to drop.[18] On 4 January the decision to delist was suddenly reversed; two days later, the NYSE said that the delistings would proceed.[19] In the aftermath of the delisting, the company announced its decision to raise up to US$ 8.8 billion ahead of the Shanghai stock exchange listing, according to an official Weibo post by the company.[20]

In March 2022, the Federal Communications Commission designated China Mobile's U.S. subsidiary, China Mobile International USA, a national security threat.[21]

Ownership and control

A state-owned enterprise directly controlled by the government of the People's Republic of China[5] and also a public company which is listed on the NYSE and the Hong Kong stock exchanges,[2] China Mobile has dominated Chinese mobile services since its inception for civilian and military purposes. According to the United States Department of Defense, the company has links to the People's Liberation Army.[22] As of 2010, China Mobile controls the vast majority of its domestic mobile services market with a 70% market share.[10] China Unicom and China Telecom have 20% and 10% shares, respectively.[10]

The company likely enjoys substantial protectionist benefits from China's government[23] but also experiences frequent government intervention in its business affairs.[24] Government control is maintained through a presumably government-owned holding company, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. (formerly: China Mobile Communications Corporation; CMCC), that owns 100 percent ownership of China Mobile (HK) Group Limited,[25] which in turn holds over seventy percent ownership of China Mobile–the remainder being controlled by public investors.[2] Established in 2000,[25] CMCC is China Mobile Ltd's current parent company as of 2019.[4]

Services

Rural subscriber base
Wang Jianzhou, chairman and CEO during the Market Insight: Frontier Markets plenary session in Tianjin, China, 28 September 2008.[26]
display of China Mobile phones, 2010

China Mobile has historically held a greater share of the rural market than competitors.[27] By 2006, its network had expanded to provide reception to 97% of the Chinese population,[28] and the company has since seen a sustained stream of new, rural mobile customers.[27]

It also offers services targeted at the rural market including an agricultural information service, which facilitates a variety of activities such as the sale and purchase of agricultural products, access to market prices for produce and crops, wire transfers, bank withdrawals, and payments, etc.[29]

Overseas activities

The company branched out in 2007 with the purchase of Paktel in Pakistan[30] launching the Zong brand there a year later.[31]

In 2013, China Mobile eyed expansion into Myanmar expressing interest in bidding for one of two licences on offer in a partnership with Vodafone although this plan ultimately fell through.[32]

Brands

Mainland China
A China Mobile store in Shenzhen

Mobile services are available in Mainland China under several brands as of 2007.[33] As of 2013, the below brands are scheduled to be slowly phased out and replaced by an all-encompassing new brand name—And[34]—whose logo combines an exclamation point, the Chinese character for "peace" (和; Hé), as well as the English word "and".[35]

Easyown
A sign near a China Mobile fiber-optic cable reminds of the legal responsibility for damaging telecommunication cables

(Chinese: 神州行; pinyin: Shénzhōuxíng Rough translation: "Travel across China"[36] (lit. "travel the holy states")): a basic prepaid mobile phone service more heavily marketed in rural areas[28]

GoTone

(Chinese: 全球通; pinyin: Quánqiútōng Rough translation: "Global Connect"): subscription[36] flagship brand[37]

M-zone

(Chinese: 动感地带; pinyin: Dònggǎndìdài Rough translation: "Dynamic Area"): a premium prepaid service popular with youths[37]

G3

A 3G service brand using TD-SCDMA[35] (likely introduced post-2007)

and!和

A 4G/LTE service brand using TD-LTE

Hong Kong

CMHK is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Mobile. It offers GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSPA+ (MVNO), FD-LTE and TD-LTE technologies to customers in this the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.[38]

Pakistan

Zong is China Mobile's brand in Pakistan and is operated by China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak), a subsidiary.[31]

United Kingdom

In December 2017, China Mobile launched a MVNO service in the UK called CMLink. CMLink is aimed at the Chinese population living in the UK and Chinese visitors and students. Plans include free calls to China Mobile phones in China.[39]

Singapore

In June 2020, China Mobile launched a MVNO service called CMLink. It uses Singtel networks, which is one of Singapore's largest mobile network operator.

CMLink is aimed at the Chinese population living in the Singapore and Chinese visitors and students. Plans include free calls to China Mobile phones in China.[40]

Network

China Mobile operates a GSM network,[41] which encompasses all 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and directly administered municipalities in Mainland China and includes Hong Kong, too.[2] GPRS is utilized for data transmission.[42]

3G

Marketed as "G3", the company controls 70% of the Chinese mobile market but a far smaller percentage of the 3G market.[10] As of May 2012, its nearly 60 million 3G subscribers account for roughly 9% of its total subscriber base,[43] which is an increase from 3% in 2010.[10]

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.[44]

4G

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.[44] As of May 2012, such networks are in operation.[43]

While prior iPhone models couldn't 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.[43] The iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s were sold through China Mobile starting in January 2014.[45]

Everest

In 2003 and again in 2007, China Mobile provided mobile services on Mount Everest.[46]

Spratly Isles coverage

In May 2011, China Mobile announced its network now includes the controversial Spratly Islands.[47]

See also
  • List of largest companies by revenue
  • List of mobile network operators
  • List of mobile network operators of the Americas
  • List of mobile network operators of the Asia Pacific region
  • List of mobile network operators of the Middle East and Africa

References
  1. Milestone Archived 2 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine China Mobile Official Site
  2. Overview Archived 2 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine China Mobile Limited Official Site
  3. "Board of Directors". China Mobile Limited Official Website. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  4. Annual Report 2019 (PDF) (Report). China Mobile Limited. 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  5. Strait deals The Economist, 7 May 2009
  6. "China Mobile Limited - Investor Relations > Operating Data".
  7. "The Largest Mobile Network Operators In The World". WorldAtlas. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  8. "List of Red Chip Companies". Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. 31 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  9. Asian economic and political issues, Volume 8 (page 68) Archived 6 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine Frank Columbus, Nova Publishers, 2003 (Google Books)
  10. China Mobile Still Dominates, but Faces Competition in 3G. morningstar.com, 22 October 2010
  11. Telecoms in China The Economist, 29 May 2008
  12. China Mobile to take over China Tietong Telecom
  13. "Nokia, China Mobile sign $970 million framework deal" (Press release). Reuters. 10 October 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  14. "Chinese mobile phone giant pulling out of Canada amid security concerns". Richmond News. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  15. Chen, Shawna (12 November 2020). "Trump bans Americans from investing in 31 companies with links to Chinese military". Axios. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  16. Pamuk, Humeyra; Alper, Alexandra; Ali, Idrees (12 November 2020). "Trump bans U.S. investments in firms linked to Chinese military". Reuters. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  17. Swanson, Ana (12 November 2020). "Trump Bars Investment in Chinese Firms With Military Ties". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  18. Mozur, Paul (1 January 2021). "New York to Delist Chinese Telecom Firms in Symbolic Shift". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  19. Leo Sun (7 January 2021). "4 Lessons From China Mobile's Delisting Debacle". Nasdaq. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  20. "China Mobile to raise up to $8.8bn in Shanghai share listing". BBC News. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  21. Shepardson, David; Satter, Raphael (26 March 2022). "U.S. FCC adds Russia's Kaspersky, China telecom firms to national security threat list". Reuters. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  22. Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany (24 June 2020). "Defense Department produces list of Chinese military-linked companies". Axios. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  23. Asian Economic and Political Issues, Volume 8 (page 54) Archived 27 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine 2003. Frank Columbus. Nova Publishers. (Google Books)
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  25. CMCC Profile CMCC Official Site (Archive.org cache)
  26. Copyright World Economic Forum
  27. "Chinese Telecom: China Mobile Leads the Way" Archived 9 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Bloomberg BusinessWeek. 5 August 2009
  28. Homepage > Brand & Products > Business Review Archived 22 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine CMCC Official Site
  29. 2008 Corporate Social Responsibility Report – Rural Program Archived 8 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine CMCC Official Site
  30. CMCC Officially Enter Pakistani Telecommunication Market, 25 March 2007 Archived 1 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine CMCC Official Site
  31. ZoNG the first international brand of China Mobile being launched in Pakistan, 5 April 2008 Archived 11 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine CMCC Official Site
  32. "Vodafone and China Mobile pull out of Myanmar race". reuters.com. Thomson Reuters. 31 May 2013. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  33. "Our Brands". China Mobile. 2007. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2008. (Archive.org cache)
  34. "Leo Burnett Wins Pitch for Telecom Giant China Mobile 'And' Brand". leoburnett.com. Leo Burnett. 12 January 2016. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  35. Jingting, Shen (18 December 2013). "China Mobile launches new 4G service brand". chinadaily.com. China Daily. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  36. "DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QUANQIUTONG AND SHENZHOUXING". Wangjianshuo's blog. Shanghai. 19 March 2003. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  37. Homepage > Brand & Products > Our Brands CMCC Official Site (Archive.org cache)
  38. "Corporate Overview". Archived from the original on 22 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  39. "China Mobile Launches CMLink UK MVNO for Chinese Community". 13 December 2017. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  40. "China Mobile Launches CMLink UK MVNO for Chinese Community". 13 December 2017. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  41. Beijing Olympic Games spur another technological leap forward Archived 28 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine China Mobile, 18 Aug 2008
  42. Networks & Technologies Archived 21 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine China Mobile
  43. Lee, Chyen Yee (16 May 2012). "China Mobile in talks with Apple for iPhone". reuters.com. Thompson Reuters. Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  44. China Mobile Limited: Annual Report 2010 (PDF). China Mobile Ltd. 2010. pp. 13–14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  45. Anthony Ha. "Apple Announces Deal To Bring iPhones To China Mobile Starting On Jan. 17". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  46. For 2003 service, see Everest goes online for anniversary Archived 11 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine Mary Hennock, bbc.co.uk, Wednesday, 23 April 2003, 04:23 GMT 05:23 UK
  47. Ian Mansfield, 18 May 2011, China Mobile Expands Coverage to the Spratly Islands Archived 16 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Cellular News
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