China to add 100 mln 3G subscribers next year

China will add an estimated 100 million new 3G subscribers in 2013, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The number of broadband Internet users will increase by 25 million, Miao Wei, minister of industry and information technology, said at the ministry's annual meeting on Thursday. Next year, the telecommunications industry targets an 8-percent increase in main business revenue. The software and information technology service industry's revenue will grow by around 25 percent. The ministry enhanced industrial supervision this year by allowing more private capital to enter the market, lowering service fees and improving service quality, Miao said. By the end of November, the number of mobile phone users exceeded 1.1 billion, and 3G users had reached 220 million and broadband Internet users stood at 174 million.