Source: CCTV.com

02-02-2007

Beijing Mobile's users will be able to enjoy free incoming calls starting from next Thursday, under a new charging scheme which only charges users for outgoing calls.

As DENG WEI tells us, the Ministry of Information Industry says the caller-pays scheme will become a trend around the country.

Beijing Mobile, China Mobile's Beijing branch, says the new monthly package with free incoming calls will dramatically slash mobile call charges for users in the city. Users will also enjoy minimum outgoing call charges of 0.15 yuan per minute.

Local mobile phone users have always demanded free incoming call service. A monthly package based on a one-way billing scheme has been welcomed by China Mobile and China Unicom subscribers in pilot areas in Guangdong, Shanghai and Tianjin. It reinforced the companies' market position as well.

Latest figures show that there are 460 million mobile phone subscribers in China, the largest in the world. Last year, the average monthly growth of the users reached 5 million.

The Ministry of Information Industry says the caller-pay scheme will be eventually implemented nationwide. Experts say the new fee policy is an important achievement of the telecom industry since it smashed the monopoly in 1997. It also fuels the reform of China's telecom system.

The one-way charging scheme is currently only available for users signed up to monthly packages. Now let's take a look at what other regions in the mainland are offering the one-way billing system.

Shanghai

Shanghai Mobile has started one-way billing packages, such as a monthly 6 yuan package with free incoming calls.

The telecom authority says the free incoming call service for non-monthly packages still needs the NDRC's approval. But the state authority is encouraging operators to launch the caller-pays scheme.

Tianjin

Starting from November 2006, Tianjin Mobile users began to enjoy free incoming call packages. So far, the packages are available around the entire city.

Heilongjiang Province

The authority said China Mobile and China Unicom have launched the new mobile phone fee policy around the province.