China Mobile has set up a new subsidiary to integrate and operate the group’s mobile internet services, as the mobile giant strives to diversify its businesses and create new revenue streams.
In a statement released on Monday, China Mobile said the new subsidiary, called China Mobile Internet Company Limited, will focus on providing key internet-related products and services for consumers and enterprises.
China Mobile Internet was officially launched on Monday. Headquartered in Guangzhou, China Mobile Internet was incorporated on October 30 with a registered capital of 3 billion yuan ($463 million).
“China Mobile Internet Company will strive to become a leader in mobile internet, a provider of best quality internet platform, and help China Mobile to achieve strategic transformation,” China Mobile said in the statement.
China Mobile said the new subsidiary currently has a customer base of 450 million with annual revenue of several billion yuan.
At present China Mobile Internet is offering a range of services, including converged communication services, Fexion branded mobile IM, 139 email service and cloud-based products.
The company is currently collaborating with more than 100,000 individual and corporate developers and aggregators, including Tencent, Baidu and Huawei, to develop and offer new internet products and services.
Industry watchers said the launch of the internet unit demonstrates China Mobile’s need to branch out into new internet-related businesses to boost its revenue.
China Mobile, which had 824 million subscribers by the end of October, is struggling to find new sources of revenue. The company, along with small rivals China Unicom and China Telecom, is facing increasing pressure from the regulator to provide better internet connect speed at lower prices.