China Telecommunications Corp, the country's third-largest telecom carrier, has upped the 4G ante by promising more resources to grow its user base in 2016.

Yang Jie, general manager of China Telecom, said: "Currently, we have 91 million 4G users, accounting for 47 percent of all our subscribers. But that is not enough. Our top priority in 2016 is to boost the 4G user penetration rate to 80 percent."

To meet the goal, the company will spend 7 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) on subsidies for handset makers and retailers that make and sell China Telecom's contract phones.