Top 20 global mobile operators
New data from the GSMA has revealed the world’s top 20 mobile operators by connections and 12-month revenue.
According to the GSM Association’s data, China Mobile has retained the top position in the world, with 726.31 million users (up 8% from 2012), and a haul of US$90.44 billion over 12 months.
Vodafone, America Movil and Telefonica also remained unchanged in their listed positions (second, third and fourth, respectively) compared to last year – while China Unicom climbed two places to fifth.
China Unicom grew its subscriber numbers by 16% over 12 months to 250.71 million connections, while boosting revenue 17% to US$21.03 billion.
China Unicom and China Telecom were the only two operators in the ranking to post double-digit revenue growth, the GSMA noted.
Orange was the biggest climber on the list, jumping four places to 8th position. According to the GSMA, the move was due to the French operator securing a majority share in Egypt’s largest mobile operator Mobinil.
Orange lifted its total stake in the Egyptian operator from 36.36% to 93.92%.
South Africa’s MTN group fell two spots to 13th place, increasing connections by 13%, but dropping 10% in revenue.
Year-on-year declines at MTN, Telecom Italia, and Japan’s NTT Docomo led to the top 20 combined revenue to be down by 0.1%.
Top 20 global mobile operators
| # | Operator | Connections (millions) |
Growth |
Revenue (US$bn) |
Growth |
| 1 | China Mobile | 726.31 | 8% | 90.44 | 6% |
| 2 | Vodafone Group | 381.75 | – | 54.50 | -8% |
| 3 | América Móvil Group | 262.91 | 6% | 34.53 | 9% |
| 4 | Telefónica Group | 247.31 | 3% | 46.84 | 1% |
| 5 | China Unicom | 250.71 | 16% | 21.03 | 17% |
| 6 | Verizon Wireless | 114.45 | 5% | 65.05 | 7% |
| 7 | VimpelCom Group | 211.86 | 4% | 19.58 | -2% |
| 8 | Orange Group | 140.20 | 28% | 26.24 | -7% |
| 9 | Bharti Airtel Group | 259.84 | 7% | 12.58 | 6% |
| 10 | AT&T Mobility | 107.25 | 3% | 59.68 | 4% |
| 11 | China Telecom | 168.03 | 19% | 14.79 | 21% |
| 12 | Deutsche Telekom | 111.10 | 4% | 33.37 | -3% |
| 13 | MTN Group | 153.53 | 13% | 13.96 | -10% |
| 14 | Telenor Group | 145.25 | -2% | 10.47 | 3% |
| 15 | Telecom Italia Group | 103.09 | 3% | 16.15 | -10% |
| 16 | NTT DOCOMO | 61.54 | 2% | 40.31 | -17% |
| 17 | Sprint Nextel | 55.21 | -2% | 29.15 | 4% |
| 18 | Sistema Group | 106.12 | -8% | 10.04 | – |
| 19 | Telkomsel | 120.61 | 9% | 5.56 | 3% |
| 20 | au (KDDI) | 37.71 | 7% | 19.65 | -17% |
The GSMA’s data lists connections which are aggregated as the sum of each group’s subsidiaries (where a minimum of 50% plus one share economic interest is held). Revenues are based on reported full-year data for 2012.
The “scorecard” gives equal weighting to connections and annual revenue in determining positions.
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