Chinese operator China Unicom has announced a 92 per cent year on year increase in mobile data usage, attributing the growth in part to the availability of low-cost smarpthones. In an earnings release posted late last week, Unicom referenced an improvement in its smartphone “quality to price ratio”.

In a bid to compete with its smartphone rivals in the largest mobile market in the world, Apple has started offering instalment plans for its products in China, the first OEM in the country to do so when selling its own products directly. According to reports, the company has taken this step because it has been struggling to shift its products, which are typically more expensive than those of its competitors. Regardless of the near-term competitive environment Apple faces in China the instalment plans are a bold and innovative way for Apple to make the iPhone more attractive to consumers who are used to buying smartphones from local rivals such as ZTE for much less.

China has long been seen as a potential goldmine for foreign investment due to the sheer size of the market, but the trick is always going to be catering to niche audiences within the country’s substantial economic diversity.

Smart grids based on passive optical networking (PON) technologies are set to provide a $1.5-2bn opportunity for fibre and FTTx component and infrastructure vendors targeting China, according to statistics released Wednesday.

China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile carrier, has created the fastest TD-LTE network in the world – by deploying the network along a high-speed train line. According to the China Daily website, China Mobile has connected up a 60-kilometre stretch of the Jiaxing section of the Shanghai to Hangzhou high-speed railway to TD-LTE using 18 base stations, and is capable of delivering 15Mb/s at speeds of 300 kilometres per hour.

China’s Ministry of Industry and IT (MIIT) plans to accelerate the development of broadband access in the country in order to bolster its economic and social development, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.

The world’s largest mobile operator, China Mobile, has reported first half net profit of $9.76bn on operating revenues of $41.86bn. But in a statement the firm said that competition in the Chinese market – from peers as well as internet players – is intensifying. The growth potential in “traditional telecoms services” is shrinking in China, it said.