Since it embraced reform and globalization, and the accompanying foreign investment, China has grown at an astounding rate to become the world’s fourth-largest economy. The country is now moving toward licensing advanced mobile phone services; something that will transform personal communication in China.

As recently as 10 years ago, China had just 10 million mobile subscribers. Most people still relied on public phones and fixed-line services. Current statistics for the Chinese telecom market highlight the huge growth in a market holding 20 percent of the world’s population.

• As of April 2007, China had almost 490 million mobile subscriptions (equivalent to the population of the European Union).
• New subscriptions are growing at a rate of 6.6 million every month.
• The average talk-time-per-user has risen 65 percent in less than four years.
• More than 1.5 billion SMS messages are sent every day.
• Operator China Mobile’s revenue from mobile non-voice services grew by 38.1 percent in 2006 alone.
• There are currently 57.3 million wireline broadband subscriptions, with new subscriptions running at 1.3 million every month.

Albert Lu, Deputy General Manager of Marketing and Strategic Planning, Ericsson China, says it is this diversified market that will support continued growth.

 “A virtual total penetration in the big cities to low penetration in many regions gives a huge scope for development, especially when you consider that the national penetration is only 37 percent,” Lu says.

The next significant development in the Chinese telecom market will be the long-awaited announcement of who will be awarded 3G licenses.

In accordance with the trial plan put into place by China's Ministry of Information Industry, China Mobile, the world’s largest operator, is conducting extended 3G trials in eight cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin, Liaoning, Hebei, and Fujian, and the goal is to roll out 3G services before the Olympic Games in August 2008.

Ericsson’s presence in China dates back to 1890, when the first telephone devices were delivered. Today, China is Ericsson’s second-largest market by revenue, and the company is by far the largest supplier of mobile systems in the country.