China Unicom Sees Slow Growth in 3G User Number

BEIJING, Mar. 24 -- China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd, the country's second-largest telecom carrier, reported a slight growth in the number of its 3G users for February.

In February, the company added only 470,000 subscribers for its 3G business, bringing the total to 4.07 million, its lowest monthly growth on record.

Total number of its mobile phone users totaled 146.39 million, compared with 552 million subscribers of its bigger rival China Mobile Ltd.

Its fixed line subscribers lost by 410,000 last month to more than 102 million, while the number of its broadband subscribers increased by 791,000 to 40.31 million in February.

In January, China Unicom said it expects its 2009 net profit to decline by over 50%.