China Mobile has reported operating revenue of RMB567.7 billion (–0.3 percent), telecom services revenue of RMB518.4 billion (+0.6 percent), EBITDA of RMB214.1 billion (+1.3 percent) and profit of RMB95 billion (+3.1 percent) for the first three quarters of 2018.

China Mobile said the cancellation of data roaming charges, implemented starting July 2018 in compliance with the state’s requirement, has posed a significant negative impact on the revenue.

This move, together with the decline in data value triggered by competition from large-data, low-tariff packages, has put strain on China Mobile’s telecommunications services revenue in the last three quarters.

China Mobile said its total customer base reached 916 million in the first 9 months against 906 million in the first 6 months.

China Mobile’s 4G customer base reached 695 million from 677 million. Average Revenue per User per Month (ARPU) of China Mobile dropped to RMB 55.7 from RMB 58.1.

Total voice usage reached 2,646.4 billion minutes from 1,769.7 billion minutes. Average minutes of usage per user per month (MOU) reached 327 minutes from 332 minutes.

Handset data traffic reached 22,139.2 billion MB from 12,219.0 billion MB. Average handset data traffic per user per month reached 3,132 MB 2,622 MB.

SMS messages reached 438.2 billion from 284.9 billion.

Wireline broadband business customer base reached 147 million from 135 million. China Mobile’s ARPU from wireline broadband fell to RMB 34.3 from RMB 35.