China Mobile 2007 profit up 32% on record users

China Mobile Ltd<941>, the country's largest wireless operator, booked its full-year profit climbed 32% year-on-year to RMB 87.1 billion in 2007, beating the previous anticipation, as the company added record subscribers by cutting rates, according to its filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

China Mobile added about 68.1 million new subscribers in 2007 after it stopped charging users for incoming calls and signed up more people in the smaller towns and villages. Sales climbed to RMB 356.96 billion last year, up 20.9% from the previous year.

The company, which controls two thirds of the nation's wireless market, is eying to gain subscribers through speeding up expansion in rural areas, where the telecom business has just started.

Meanwhile, China Mobile announced 2008 spending budget up to RMB 127.2 billion, compared with RMB 99.8 billion in 2007. Insiders predicted the company is likely to increase TD-SCDMA deployment nationwide this year to enhance its competitiveness and provide better services after the completion of the government's planned industry reshuffle.