At 1.29 bn, China’s cellular phone user base covers 94.5% of its population

China's number of mobile phone users had crosed 1.29 billion, or 94.5 per cent of the country's population, by the end of June 2015, with the first half of the year adding 6.88 million new users.

China, the world's largest cellular phone market, reported a more than 100-per cent mobile phone use in 9 provincial-level zones, comprising Beijing, Shanghai, in addition to regions of Guangdong as well as Zhejiang, the ministry of industry and information technology (MIIT) said in a statement.

The number of users preferring broadband mobile web services (3G and 4G services) hit 674 million by the end of last month, making up around 52.1 per cent of all cellular phone users.

Fourth-generation (4G) mobile network, which provides quicker web access than previous modes, saw explosive user growth in June, with the total number of 4G users up by 24.69 million to 225 million from the previous month.

Against this, India's mobile phone subscriber base is expected to to cross 1 billion, with 4G phones constituting 7 per cent of smart phones sales in the country.