(Telecompaper) China Unicom reported revenue of CNY 248.93 billion for 2012, up 19.0 percent from 2011. The operator's EBITDA rose 14.6 percent to CNY 72.66 billion, and EBITDA as a percentage of service revenue was up 0.5 percent points to 34.6 percent. Net profit reached CNY 7.10 billion, up by 68.5 percent year-on-year. Growth was led by its mobile activities, with service revenues up 22.0 percent to CNY 126.04 billion, and the customer base increasing 19.9 percent to 239.31 million. 3G's share of total mobile subscribers reached 31.9 percent, up by 11.9 percentage points, and 3G accounted for 47.4 percent of mobile service revenue. Mobile data volume increased by 92.0 percent year-on-year, and China Unicom said 3G smartphone users were now averaging 256 MB per month. Mobile ARPU was up just 1.3 percent to CNY 47.9, despite higher MOU and SMS traffic as well. Fixed service revenues were up by just 1.9 percent in 2012 to CNY 83.21 billion, of which 70.0 percent from non-voice services. Broadband subscribers grew by 14.8 percent, and broadband service revenue rose 11.8 percent to CNY 39.37 billion. The operator added 92,000 3G base stations last year for a total 331,000, all offering HSPA at up to 21Mbps. Fixed-line broadband access ports increased by 23.9 percent to 106.46 million, of which 59 percent were FTTH/B, up by 14 percentage points from 2011. After capex of CNY 99.79 billion in 2012, China Unicom said it aims to lower the capex-to-sales ratio this year, while maintaining revenue growth and further improving profitability.