On October 28th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology unveiled the economic performance data of the communications sector for the first three quarters of 2026. According to the data, by the end of September, the number of mobile IoT terminal users across the three fundamental telecom companies had surged to 3.117 billion, marking a net rise of 229 million from the end of the preceding year. Simultaneously, the user base for Internet TV services (encompassing both IPTV and OTT) stood at 407 million, reflecting a decline of 1.029 million compared to the end of the previous year.

Regarding mobile phone users, as of the end of September, the combined user count of the three primary telecom enterprises and China Broadcasting Network had climbed to 1.854 billion, showing a net growth of 26.67 million from the end of the previous year. Notably, the number of 5G mobile phone users reached 1.32 billion, experiencing a net increase of 116 million from the end of the previous year, and constituted 71.2% of the total mobile phone user population.

Furthermore, the cumulative number of 5G base stations had escalated to 5.254 million by the end of September, with a net addition of 416,000 from the end of the previous year. These stations accounted for 40% of all mobile base stations, representing a year-on-year surge of 2.4 percentage points.