China added 120 million mobile internet users in 2009 as its three national carriers rolled out 3G networks nationwide, according to latest figures from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).
At end-2009, China had amassed 233 million mobile internet customers, accounting for 60.8% of the country’s total internet users.
"Mobile internet services will be a new growth point," a CNNIC analyst told People’s Daily Online.
Moreover, CNNIC found that some 30.7 million users’ only means of accessing the internet in 2009 was via their mobile phone.
Subscribers accessing the internet via their handsets and notebooks grew 98.3% and 42.4% respectively year on year, while internet access through desktop PCs increased by only 5.8%.
The findings come as China Mobile reveals that it aims to reach 50 million TD-SCDMA customers by the end of this year, 12 months earlier than planned. The firm is targeting to complete the nationwide rollout of it network by end-2010, rather than end-2011.
China had 10 million 3G customers at the end of 2009, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).