RCR Wireless: Chinese operators lose 21 million subscribers during pandemic
The travel ban might be behind the decline in subscriptions seen by Chinese operators
COVID-19 continues to spread, disrupting nearly every corner of the world, every household and every industry. In China, where the virus originated, wireless carriers have reported a loss of 21 million user subscriptions in the midst of the pandemic. The country’s largest operator, China Mobile, is experiencing the first net decline since 2000 when it began reporting on monthly data, which illustrated the severity of the situation.
Over January and February, the months most associated with widespread regional severity of COVID-19, China Mobile subscriptions fell by more than 8 million, according to data on the company’s website. China Unicom Hong Kong subscribers fell by 7.8 million in the period, while China Telecom has said during this last month, it lost 5.6 million users.
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Update: China's Mobile Carriers Lose 21 Million Users as Virus Bites (Bloomberg)
WNU Editor: A lot of Chinese have two cell phones. One for where they work, and another one from the region or province that they call home. The travel ban coupled with there being no work (therefore no pay), probably resulted in many subscribers cancelling their phones. But I still wonder on how many were cancelled because their owners passed away.
