According to the figures released Tuesday by the Ministry of Information Industry, there were 229 million fixed phone and 226 million mobile subscribers by the end of April.

The new subscribers in April include 3.413 million fixed phone users and 4.226 million mobile phone users.

Business revenue from the country's telecommunications companies stood at 43.15 billion yuan (US$5.26 billion) in April.

The Ministry gave no comparable April figures, saying only the sector's revenue in the first four months this year was up 17.2 percent year on year.

Analysts with the ministry said no abnormal phenomenon of excessively fast or slow growth was spotted in April compared with the first quarter, and the ministry was monitoring the situation of the sector closely.

(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2003)