A villager holds her mobile phone as she celebrate the start of ploughing in Menzhonggang village, Lhokha city, Tibet autonomous region, on March 16, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region actively carried out the State Council's promotion of mobile phone data fee reduction and internet speed acceleration in 2019, China Tibet News reported on Friday.

According to the region's communications administration, the region's average charge for mobile data usage was 5.5 yuan ($0.79) per gigabyte (GB) in 2019, a decrease of 73.4 percent year-on-year.

Tibet was ranked top in China in terms of mobile phone data charge reductions last year.

In 2019, the region continued to implement targeted mobile phone data charge reduction services for impoverished residents in the region's rural areas, benefiting 73,618 households of the region thanks to the discounts.

Over the past few years, local authorities worked hard to provide better communications services in the region's rural areas. Around 3 billion yuan ($428.5 million) had been spent on various communications projects between 2016 and 

2019, according to the administration.

Thanks to the investment, a 20-kilometer length of new optical cable was constructed. The number of mobile phone base stations reached 50,000, and more than 98 percent of its villages are linked with 4G networks, optical fibers and broadband internet services over the year.

Together with other provinces, the region has completed the task of telecommunication coverage in its rural areas in 2019, ahead of the schedule of the country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

Tibet's communication development also contributed to the region's employment in 2019, providing 220 college graduates with job opportunities in related industries.