China to continue experiencing strong uptake of mobile internet services: GSMA

BARCELONA -- The strong presence of 4G networks coupled with strong local content are factors which will enable a continued rise in mobile internet services in China.

That is the conclusion the GSMA (the representative body of the world mobile industry) expressed in the Mobile World Daily magazine published during the four days of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

The GSMA considers China "leads the way in the uptake of IP services when compared to other countries in the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India and China) with 79 percent of Chinese customers using non-operator IP voice and 81 percent using IP messaging, partly due to the availability of 4G services."

When compared to developed markets, China is more advanced in terms of consumer uptake of mobile data services, with 73 percent of Chinese mobile users accessing social media over their phones, compared to only 43 percent in the UK, where just 40 percent of mobile users have IP messaging apps, compared to 81 percent in China.

GMSA Intelligence information shows that Chinese data ARPU increased by 32.5 percent on a year-on-year basis in the second quarter of 2015, compared to 16.9 percent in the UK.

Meanwhile there has been a decline in traditional voice calls, with a 19.2 percent fall in China, compared to 8.2 percent in the UK.

During this period GSMA highlights that China Mobile noted it has "achieved a notable increase in data traffic operations and a transition from voice-centric to data centric operations."

This transition is happening all over the world, but China is leading the field with a strong uptake of mobile data services, such as "gaming, apps and video."

GSMA considers "the ability to access a wide array of mobile data services in China - enabled by the country's rapid rollout of 4G networks and supported by strong local content players, (such as QQ messenger) - is creating demand- and supply-side drivers that Chinese operators are exploiting."

Regulatory pressure could serve to slow this growth somewhat, but demand is likely to remain strong and consequently China can be expected to "outperform many Western markets for many quarters to come."