Domestic roaming service charges by China's two monopolistic
mobile phone providers are unreasonable and should be scrapped, or
at least lowered, the Beijing Consumers' Association said in a
statement on Monday.
The association, which worked to protect consumer's rights and
interest, said high mobile roaming service fees were among its most
frequently received complaints.
Most of the country's 539 million mobile subscribers paid
between 33 to 50 percent more for phone calls made or received on
their cell phones when they traveled to another province.
The mobile service providers said such service fees were charged
to cover the extra operation costs that incurred when
cross-province calls were transferred from one local operator to
another.
Experts, however, said new technologies had lowered operational
costs -- some argued roaming calls actually incurred no extra cost
for the operators.
The cutting of domestic roaming fees had also become a worldwide
trend. "Many developed countries in Europe, North America and Asia
have already scrapped roaming service fees," said Professor Zeng
Jianqiu of the Beijing University of Posts and
Telecommunications.
China's National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry
of Information Industry planned to hold a hearing in Beijing later
this month to reset the ceiling price for domestic mobile roaming
charges.
The hearing would be attended by five consumers -- including one
from Beijing -- as well as representatives from mobile service
providers, experts, scholars and relevant government officials.
The association said it had recommended two candidates, both of
whom were familiar with the telecom market and rights protection
laws and regulations. Another one would be chosen by China
Consumers' Association to attend.
"The hearing will offer a platform for different interest
groups. The process is in itself a step closer to our goal," a
spokesman with the Beijing association said on condition of
anonymity.
China currently had two mobile telecom service providers --
China Mobile and China Unicom.
As more people had complained about the telecom industry reaping
handsome profit by charging monopolistic prices, since last year,
the government had urged the companies to offer lower pricing
packages and free incoming calls. Chinese mobile operators
previously charged both the caller and the receiver.
Efforts to reform the monopoly industry have resulted in a 13.6
percent drop in 2007 in overall telecom charges in China, the
Ministry of Information Industry said.
(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2008)
