398 mln mobile users in China

The number of mobile subscribers in China rose 5.4 mln in January 2006 to 398 mln, Xinhua News Agency reported. China set up its first mobile phone network in 1987 and took a decade to reach 10 mln customers. In 2003, the number of mobile phones in China surpassed that of fixed-line phones. Mobile phone customers sent 33.8 bln text messages in January 2006, up 65.7% from January 2005.