4G Download Speed Is Closely Intertwined with Operators' Network & User Scale in China

On November 15, Broadband Development Alliance released the Broadband Speed Report in China in 3Q16.

According to the report, in 3Q16, the average download speed of China's fixed broadband reaches 11.03 Mbit/s, that of 3G & 4G network respectively hit 3.75 Mbit/s and 11.83 Mbit/s. Judging from the speed of mobile broadband of different operators, China Unicom's 3G and 4G network download speeds are the highest among the three major operators, which are 4.98 Mbit/s and 13.76 Mbit/s.

Ao Li, deputy director of Standard Institute of CATR (China Academy of Telecommunication Research) of MIIT, said the mobile networks of different operators share the bandwidth and the download speed is closely related to the network scale and user scale for operator, in which China Mobile takes the lead. By the end of September 2016, China Mobile gained 481 million 4G subscribers, China Telecom 121 million and China Unicom 88.906 million, which means that China Mobile carries over 70% of 4G subscribers in China.