The number of China Mobile's subscribers increased 7.491 million in May to reach an all-time high of 407 million.

In contrast, China's leading fixed-line operator, China Telecom, suffered a net subscriber loss of 820,000 in May, which was also the 10th consecutive month of net subscriber lose, according to monthly industrial figures published on Friday.

By the end of May, China Telecom's total subscribers stood at 215 million.

China carried out a massive scheme in May to restructure its telecommunications sector, which involves the country's top five telecom companies, all state-owned, including mobile operators China Mobile and China Unicom, and fixed-line service providers China Tietong, China Telecom and China Netcom. They will be restructured into three groups, each able to provide both mobile and fixed-line services.

It has been widely speculated that China will issue three licences for its third generation mobile phone technology (3G) following the telecom reshuffle.

(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2008)