Chinese telecommunications operator China Mobile has published its annual financial report for 2008, which states its net profit increased by 29.6% to CNY112.8 billion during the period.
The report also reveals China Mobile's total revenue increased by 15.5% year-on-year to CNY412.343 billion; its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were CNY216.487 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11.6%; and the number of its users reached over 457 million, a year-on-year increase of 23.8%. The revenue of China Mobile's value-added services increased 23.8% in 2008 and it accounted for 27.5% of the total revenue of the company.
During the entire year of 2008, the total communication time via China Mobile's network were about 2.441 trillion minutes, with minutes of usage of 492 minutes and average revenue per user of CNY83.
Wang Jianzhou, CEO of China Mobile, said in the report that the effect of the global financial crisis will deepen and it will continue to bring negative impact to China's economy as well as to the telecommunications industry. However, China Mobile will take the opportunity to adapt to the changes of the business environment and competitive situation, learn from the experiences of the international telecommunications industry, make full use of the 2G network resources, and help users to realize a smooth transition from the 2G to the 3G network.
Wang said depending on its scale advantage and influence, China Mobile will actively promote the maturity and development of the TD-SCDMA industry chain while promoting the research of the LTE network.
Wang revealed that China Mobile will also seek investment opportunities in overseas telecommunications assets to promote its internationalization.