China Mobile tops brand value

China Mobile, China's biggest cell phone operator, has overtaken its British rival Vodafone to become the world's largest mobile telecom carrier in terms of brand value, a research report said.

The Chinese mobile phone carrier had already surpassed Vodafone in terms of subscriber numbers and market value.

The brand value of China Mobile has hit $30.79 billion, ranking first among the top 100 mobile telecom carriers worldwide, while Vodafone comes second with a brand value of $22.13 billion and US operator Verizon ranks third with $20.38 billion, according to the report issued by Mobile Communications International, a trade journal in the US.

The research was conducted by Intangible Business, a US-based brand assessment consulting institute. "Brand value takes various factors into account in a comprehensive manner," said Will Grobel, marketing director of Intangible Business. "Therefore, it evaluates a brand and its business better than any other single indicator."

China Mobile has around 400 million users, also the highest in the world.