China Gigabit Broadband Hits 258 Million Users, 36.8% Penetration

China's gigabit broadband user base has crossed the 258 million mark, signaling a major shift in how the country connects to the internet. This milestone means that more than one in three fixed broadband subscribers now access speeds capable of supporting heavy data usage. For households and businesses, this infrastructure growth translates to more reliable high-speed connections across the nation.

MIIT data shows gigabit broadband penetration reaches 36.8% of fixed users

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released these figures as part of its first half of 2026 industry report. The data covers the entire national fixed broadband network, which now supports 701 million total users. This represents a net increase of 10.24 million new subscribers during the six-month period.

Network capacity continues to expand alongside user growth. The country now operates 1.27 billion total broadband access ports, with fiber optic ports making up 1.23 billion of that total. This fiber dominance accounts for 96.6 percent of all access ports. The network also includes 32.86 million 10G PON ports, which are the specific hardware required to deliver gigabit speeds to end users.

Speed tiers show that 95.6 percent of all broadband users now enjoy connections of 100Mbps or higher. Regional adoption varies, with Western China leading at 38.3 percent gigabit penetration. Central China follows closely at 37.4 percent. The national fiber optic cable network has grown to 76.12 million kilometers in total length to support this density.

These statistics confirm that gigabit broadband is no longer a niche offering but a standard utility for a significant portion of Chinese internet users. The infrastructure scale supports continued growth in high-speed adoption.