3G subscribers to reach 200m soon, says ministry

China will have 200 million third-generation telecom service subscribers soon, three years after the country granted its first 3G license.

According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China had 1.072 billion mobile subscriptions as of August, of which 193 million were 3G network service subscribers.

During the first eight months of the year, China added 64 million 3G users.

China Mobile Ltd, the nation's biggest telecom operator by subscribers, said it added 3.16 million 3G users in August, with a total number of 3G users of 72.1 million in the first eight months.

China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd - China's second largest mobile operator and the first carrier to introduce Apple Inc's iPhone on contract - had 63.7 million 3G users as of August.