The number of Chinese mobile users exceeded 480 million by the end of
March, with 6.5 million new subscribers added every month in the first
quarter, figures with the Ministry of Information Industry (MII)
show.

The number of new subscribers averaged five million a month last
year.

Mobile phone use was expanding rapidly in rural areas and some people
had more than one phone number, according to the MII report.

The MII figures also showed the Chinese sent 135.8 billion text
messages in the first quarter, up 37.4 percent over the same period of
last year.

Meanwhile, the number of fixed-line users topped 370 million by the
end of March, with 1.06 million new subscribers added per month in the
first quarter.

More fixed-line users would choose to use cell phones as the cost of
handsets and user charges continued to fall, according to the report.

The number of cell phone users reached 460 million at the end of last
year, 67.7 million more than the end of 2005. On average, every 100
Chinese people had 35.3 cell phones and 28.1 fixed-line phones.

China imported its first mobile phone telecommunication facilities in
1987 and it took a decade for the number of subscribers to reach 10
million. Four years later, the country had the largest number of
mobile phone subscribers in the world.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007-05/04/content_865622.htm