China Mobile profits up 5.2 pct in 2011

Chinese telecommunications giant China Mobile said its net profits hit 125.9 billion yuan (19.92 billion U.S. dollars) in 2011, an increase of 5.2 percent year-on-year. Operating revenues grew 8.8 percent year-on-year to 528 billion yuan during the period on surging wireless Internet businesses, the operator said in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The company said it planned to increase its capital expenditure by 2.6 percent to 131.9 billion yuan in 2012. In 2011, China Mobile added 65.55 million users, bringing the total number to 650 million. As of the end of 2011, subscribers to the company's 3G services totalled 51 million, accounting for 40 percent of the domestic market. The company said it will speed up the commercialization of TD-LTE technology to further drive growth, with pilot programs expected to roll out in 9 cities in 2012.