China Telecom Profit Gains 42% as Smartphone Users Rise

China Telecom Corp., the country’s biggest fixed-line carrier, said fourth-quarter profit rose 42 percent as its mobile-phone unit more than tripled the number of smartphone users on its network.

Profit excluding gains from connection fees rose to 2.67 billion yuan ($408 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, from 1.88 billion yuan a year earlier, the Beijing-based company said in a statement on its website today. That compares with the 3.06 billion yuan average of nine analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.