China: Folks Ditching Landlines, Going Mobile

For some time here in the United States, especially in younger age ranges, trends have shown that a large portion of phone users are forgoing landlines and adopting mobile phones as a single mode of communication. It seems that the Chinese are seeing landlines as disposable as well.

China is a country in which 87% of people have a fixed landline: that is, of the 1.34 billion people in China, 1.17 billion have landlines. However, China Daily reported that China’s mobile operators added roughly 20 million new mobile subscribers in the first two months of 2011. In the same time frame, landline companies have lost 918,000 customers.

Analyzing these huge numbers: the mobile penetration rate is at 64.4%, which is up sharply from the 56.3% shown in 2009.

The telecoms business is *huge* in China, with combined landlines and mobile phones generating $26 billion in business in January and February.  Not bad for just two months worth of business!

What about you – have you ditched your landline in favor of a mobile phone yet?

(Photo credit: Flickr User The Tenth Dragon)

 

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