China Mobile says that it has expanded its GSM network coverage to reach 97% of the country's population. The company is now focusing on growing its subscriber base in the rural markets as the urban areas are increasingly saturated.
"Even remote areas not connected to the power grid nor transportation networks are covered," said Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile's chairman and CEO, at the ITU Telecom Asia 2008 this week.
According to figures from the Mobile World subscriber database, the operator ended the first half of this year with some 413 million subscribers and a market share of just under 71%. The country as a whole has a population penetration level of 44%, leaving plenty of growth in the rural areas.
The operator is currently building out its TD-SCDMA based 3G network, which should cover around 28 cities by the end of this year.