China Telecoms Industry Report 2023-2028: Full-Fibre Broadband Networks are Reaching Maturity with Gigabit Speeds and Modest Growth

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Dec 28, 2022, 13:00 ET

DUBLIN, Dec. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "China Telecoms Industry Report - 2023 - 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report provides analyses of revenue and market forecasts as well as statistics of the China telecoms industry including market sizing, 5-year forecasts, market insights, key telecom trends, 5G, digital infrastructure, and also features the following:

Overall Telecommunications Market by Major Operators
Telco Operators Profile, Revenue, and EBITDA Mix
Mobile Subscribers & Revenue Market Overview and Forecasts
Spectrum Holdings
IoT Market Overview
Broadband Subscribers & Revenue Market Overview and Forecasts
Digital Infrastructure (Fibre, Telecom Towers, Data Centres, Submarine Cables)
Telecom Tower Market Analysis and Forecast
Thematics / Opportunities relating to 5G, M&A, and e-Commerce
Telco M&A Transaction Database

China Telecoms Industry Report at a Glance

Globally, the telecommunications sector is proving to be a core and essential infrastructure service to national economies, with data infrastructure becoming critical in a connected world and will likely increasingly attract a new class of investors such as large infrastructure funds. the publisher expects the Chinese telecommunications industry to remain steady thanks to the defensiveness nature of the industry, amid the political uncertainties and an uncertain economic outlook due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Growing mobile phone penetration and high fixed broadband take-up among households will fuel future growth over the next five years. According to the China Telecoms Report, the publisher forecasts that mobile subscriptions and fixed broadband subscribers will continue to fuel the telecoms sector growth in the 2023-28 period. More than 390m people became Internet users over the last in seven years and another 260m more Internet users are expected to come online over the next six years by 2028.

Following the market expansion over the last 5 years, the publisher forecasts sustained revenue growth to 2028, despite the declining population and the economic uncertainty. The Chinese government is the largest shareholder in all three Telecommunications Service providers (TSPs), swaying a large influence on strategy, network investments and pricing to the operators and putting great emphasis on developing the country's telecommunications infrastructure as it is so tightly related to developing the national economy and strengthening national unification.

Capex Investments

The Capex from Chinese operators is cyclical with mobile rollout leading to investments in line with the operators' top-line growth. Capex investments peaked between 2015 and 2016 while all three operators built their respective 4G mobile network and declined to a lower level in 2019 but will increase again from 2022 through to 2028, as mobile operators invest in 5G, bolster their 4G coverage and increase capacity to fulfil strong data demand. The Capex to GDP ratio spiked between 2015 and 2017 and its started to slide from 2017 onwards.

5G is the backbone of a wide range of technological advances including autonomous vehicles, smart cities and Internet of Things. To that effect, China is stepping up the long march to 5G with the government directing its 3 operators to accelerate 5G network constructions with over 2.1 million 5G base stations installed by the end of 2022.

Mobile Subscribers and Revenue

Average annual mobile revenue growth was lower (1.3%) than mobile service subscriptions growth (3.6%) during the period 2015-2021, highlighting the structural challenges faced by mobile operators. Declining voice & SMS revenue only partially offset by wireless data monetisation is putting pressure on ARPU, compounded by a reduction of dual-SIM cards feature, driving the lower growth in mobile subscriptions.

Population growth is a major growth driver for mobile operators, a slowdown in mobile subscriptions growth which will put long-term pressure, dialling up competition for the three mobile operators fighting for fewer new customers.

According to the benchmark study of mobile data pricing, China had among the biggest cost reduction per GB over the last 4 years, while India has the lowest rate in the world with just a few cents per GB and Singapore remains expensive.

The publisher estimates that China could finish 2022 with about 555 million 5G network subscribers and that this number could rise to as many over 1.5 billion by 2028 (making up about 40% of 5G subscribers worldwide).

Broadband Subscribers - FTTH Push to Gigabit Speeds

The fixed broadband market is experiencing strong growth mostly driven by China Mobile's push into the market over the last six years to become the market leader. Fixed broadband subscriptions are very affordable in China generating lower ARPU than than a mobile subscription, a market singularity as in most markets, fixed broadband services are usually at least twice the price of mobile services.

Fixed broadband penetration is forecasted to grow modestly as China's investments in full-fibre networks are now reaching maturity with affordable packages and increased broadband household penetration growing towards saturation.

Meanwhile fixed broadband customers opted to upgrade their connections with over 94% of subscribers opting for FTTH subscriptions with speeds over 100Mbps.

Thematics - Telecoms Infrastructure / 5G / M&A / Infrastructure

Infrastructure funds, pension funds and government funds are assigning high valuation multiples to telecommunications infrastructure assets such as mobile towers, data centers, submarine cable and fiber infrastructure.

Investment funds are assigning high valuation multiples to telecommunications infrastructure assets such as mobile towers, data centers, submarine cable, and fibre infrastructure. This report outlines some real market examples of how investors view and value these investments with real industry examples and EV/EBITDA comparatives and benchmarks.

The China Telecoms Report transactions database analysis highlights the dearth of inbound (domestic) transactions in the Chinese telecommunications services market, with the largest transaction being the telecommunications operators shifting assets to an infrastructure entity, China Tower Co. However, in the short to medium term, the telco sector is unlikely to experience corporate activity with the government controlling the sector and with telecommunications remaining a strategic sector with a low level of debts. Most transactions are expected in the data centre, IoT and cloud computing sector with many private sector operators and large technology companies such as Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba.

The arrival of 4G moved the Internet off our desktops into our palms and pockets, 5G could transform the network from something we carry around to something taking us around either virtually (augmented reality or virtual reality) or in reality (autonomous vehicles), the 5G outcome and benefits beyond fast connectivity remain largely unknown in terms of business models, investments required and timeline.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Key Statistics

2 Overall Telecommunications Market, 2015-2028

3 Telecommunications Operators Profile

4 Mobile Market

5 Broadband Market

6 Telecommunications Infrastructure Investments

7 China Telecom Towers Infrastructure Landscape

8 Thematics / Opportunities
8.1 Consolidation Opportunities
8.2 Diversification Opportunities
8.2.1 e-Commerce
8.3 New Telecoms Operating Model
8.3.1 The Attraction of Infrastructure Multiples
8.4 5G Developments
8.4.1 5G Overview
8.4.2 5G - Relative Capex Investments and Frequency Range
8.4.3 5G OpenRAN
8.4.4 Beyond 5G and Towards 6G

9 Telco M&A Transaction Database

10 Methodology

11 Copyright Notice

Companies Mentioned

Beijing RLZY
China Mobile
China Telecom
China Tower
China Unicom
Dr Peng
Guodong
Miteno
Sino Netstone
Tietong
Zhejiang WanXing

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/nrxnth

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Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
[email protected]

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SOURCE Research and Markets