Can you hear that? It is the sound of 45m iPhone users cheering that China Mobile has been awarded a 4G licence. Shares in the world’s largest mobile network operator by subscribers – 740m and counting – and those of its rivals jumped in early trading yesterday following the news. But it is China Mobile that matters.

The mobile carrier has been handicapped by being forced to use a homegrown 3G network that is incompatible with some phones – including, crucially, the iPhone. The 45m China Mobile customers who use iPhones have to get by on a patchwork of the 2G network and WiFi. This is one reason China Mobile shares trade at their biggest valuation discount to regional peers in eight years – 11 times forward earnings compared with 15 times for the sector.

China Unicom and China Telecom, its rivals, have iPhone-compatible 3G networks, but their smaller size and the lack of number portability in the country has limited their advantage. A China Mobile deal with Apple is expected soon. There is plenty of potential, especially when the carrier says, according to Barclays, that its iPhone?users?consume?a quarter more data than its average 3G users.