由于成本上升、竞争加剧，中国规模数一数二的两家电信运营商在过去的9个月里依旧处于压力之下。

　　随着竞争日益激烈，中国移动在1至9月份期间经历了利润增长放缓；而其竞争对手中国电信则说，由于营销支出增加，该公司同期净利润下滑34%.

　　政府1月份向3家全国性电信服务提供商分别发放了3G牌照，中国主要电信运营商面临的竞争在不断加剧。此后，这些企业都在努力用更低的费率和更高的手机补贴来扩大新的3G服务。

　　分析人士说，由于来自中国联通和中国电信的竞争加剧，中国移动的收益将继续受到每用户平均收入的下滑和手机补贴上升的压力。

　　按用户数量计算，中国移动是世界上最大的移动运营商。该公司公布，在截至9月30日的9个月中，净利润为人民币839.4亿元（合123.1亿美元），较去年同期的人民币824.2亿元增长1.8%.

　　今年前9个月，中国移动的用户数量增加5112万人，收入从人民币3001.2亿元增长至3269.8亿元，增幅8.9%.

　　今年前9个月，中国移动的每用户平均收入从去年同期的人民币83元降至75元，原因是手机费率的下降、农村市场用户的增多。每用户平均收入是一个重要的行业指标，可以用来测定电信运营商的长期增长情况。

　　与此同时，中国电信周二说，1至9月份，尽管收入从去年同期的人民币1341.7亿元增长至1547.5亿元，增幅15%，净利润却从人民币172.3亿元下滑至113.9亿元。

　　中国电信说，不得不增加支出以吸引消费者来使用该公司刚刚从中国联通收购的移动业务。

　　中国电信的固定电话用户数量在今年前6个月下降899万之后，在截至9月份的3个月中，又减少497万，至1.9439亿。

　　中国电信说，用户的持续减少主要是由于竞争加剧。

　　按用户数量计算，中国电信是中国最大的固定电话营运商。作为政府下令实施的行业重组计划的一部分，该公司去年10月收购了中国联通的业务，之后进入了移动服务市场。

　　中国电信一直在努力改善其移动业务，向消费者提供更好的网络覆盖和更多的手机款式。

　　中国移动和中国电信周二均未单独披露三季度业绩。

　　Two of China's largest telecom operators have remained under pressure in the past nine months due to increased costs and competition.

　　China Mobile Ltd. experienced a slowdown in profit growth for the January to September period as competition intensified， while rival China Telecom Corp. said its net profit in the same period fell 34% due to a rise in marketing expenses.

　　Competition is intensifying for China's major telecommunications operators as the government granted three third-generation mobile licenses to three nationwide providers in January. Since then， all of them have been striving to ramp up their new 3G services with lower tariffs and rising handset subsidies.

　　Analysts say China Mobile's earnings will continue to be pressured by falling average revenue per user and growing handset subsidies due to increasing competition from China Unicom （Hong Kong） Ltd. and China Telecom.

　　China Mobile， the world's largest mobile carrier by subscribers， posted a net profit of 83.94 billion yuan （US$12.31 billion） in the nine months ended Sept. 30， up 1.8% from 82.42 billion yuan a year earlier. （See related story on M12.）

　　Revenue rose 8.9% to 326.98 billion yuan from 300.12 billion yuan after it added 51.12 million subscribers during the nine months.

　　Its ARPU ——a key industry gauge to determine long-term growth for telecom operators —— fell to 75 yuan in the first nine months of the year from 83 yuan a year earlier due to a drop in mobile tariffs and a rise in the number of subscribers from rural markets.

　　Meanwhile， China Telecom said Tuesday its January to September net profit fell to 11.39 billion yuan from 17.23 billion yuan a year earlier despite a 15% increase in revenue to 154.75 billion yuan from 134.17 billion yuan.

　　The company said it had to spend more to lure customers to its newly acquired mobile business from China Unicom.

　　China Telecom's fixed-line subscribers fell 4.97 million in the three months ended September to 194.39 million， after falling 8.99 million in the first six months.

　　The company said the continued decline in users was mainly due to increased competition.

　　China Telecom， China's largest fixed-line operator by subscribers， entered the mobile-services market after it purchased operations from China Unicom in October last year as part of a government-mandated industry restructuring.

　　China Telecom has been striving to improve its mobile business with better network coverage and more handset models for consumers.

　　Both China Mobile and China Telecom didn't disclose third-quarter results separately Tuesday.