the three carriers has experienced enormous growth. By the end of Octo- ber 2011, there were close to 952 million mobile subscribers in China. China Mobile, Mobile Carriers Worldwide which had 203 million mobile subscribers in December 2004, had increased its sub- scriber numbers to 639 million by November 2011. Cell coverage is excellent throughout both urban and rural areas of China with the exception of the sparsely populated mountainous western and north-western regions. There are no charges to receive calls and costs for local calls are extremely low. How- ever, long-distance service is expensive. Thus, most people text rather than pay long- distance fees to reach people in other areas. When people travel within China they often purchase a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card associated with the distant city to avoid these fees. SIM cards are clip-on or internal cards with microchips that store user identity and other information such as speed-dial lists and e-mail addresses. China Telecom provides the most extensive services outside China. It operates international subsidiaries including China Telecom Europe Ltd., which is headquar- tered in London and offers system integration and information services to carriers and corporate customers as well as broadband connections into China for these customers. Its VelaTel subsidiary currently offers 4G wireless broadband to customers in Peru under the brand GO MOVIL. It has stated that its goal is to provide affordable wireless broadband in underserved markets with available, affordable spectrum. China Telecom has also announced plans to become a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) in England and the United States with expansion into other countries at a later date. To learn more about MVNOs, see Chapter 3, "Competition, Industry Structures, and Regulations." China has the most Internet users in the world at 457 million as well as an active e-commerce sector. Unlike its policy of owning mobile providers, the government does not own Internet companies. It does, h