Mobile global roaming tariffs slashed
By Li Weitao (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-16 08:43
China Mobile Communications Corp, the country's largest mobile phone
operator, has slashed its global roaming tariffs.
The new pricing plan
will see Chinese travellers to overseas save costs on both roaming calls and
GPRS (general package radio service) data services by 50 per cent.
China
Mobile, the world's largest mobile operator by subscribers, has also introduced
a unified charging system for global roaming.
Previously, charges for
travellers' roaming calls varied, depending on which local network partner of
China Mobile the user chose when travelling to a country or a region.
The
charge is now the same, no matter what operator the mobile phone subscriber
chooses.
Since last year, China Mobile has been gradually lowering the
charges for global roaming services by offering special packages.
Guo
Haitao, an analyst with Beijing-based research house CCW Research, said the
reductions on tariffs were "significant."
He added the price cut
was designed to take account of global trends, rather than putting pressure on
its smaller rival, China Unicom.
In the past few months, the European
Commission has been proposing to slash mobile phone roaming tariffs within
Europe.
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