Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

Contest in the already-stiff mobile telecommunications market has been accelerating, as the two leading telecom operators in Shanghai are moving up the battlefield to the high-end sector.
Shanghai Mobile has abruptly announced a phone service package targeting at higher-end clients, ahead of its rival Shanghai Unicom's pending introduction of the same strategy, today's National Business Daily reported.
Starting today, Shanghai Mobile's users will get 360 minutes of cell phone talk a month for 60 yuan (US$7.4), if they sign a one-year contract for the package, Mobile officials said.
The per-minute phone charge is 0.12 yuan, compared with the normal price of 0.6 yuan.
Other options available under the package are 800-minute talk for 120 yuan, 1,200-minute for 180 yuan and 1,600-minute for 240 yuan.
Industry insiders envisioned the price package as a drive to attract more high-end clients instead of simply boosting sales.
In fact, the high-end clients are insensitive to prices and the profit margins of the new package are cut low, a telecom official noted, as quoted by NBD in anonymity.
In response, Shanghai Unicom has contacted the city's telecom authority for interference, but in vain, according to a source close to the company.
The Unicom official, cited in the NBD report on the condition of anonymity, said his company will soon take actions to counterpunch Shanghai Mobile.
Shanghai Unicom has adopted the strategy to exploit the high-end market at the beginning of this year, much earlier than Shanghai Mobile, he noted.