Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai Telecom Co Ltd, the city's largest fixed-line phone service operator, is considering a re-launch of its currently-suspended discount packages, today's National Business Daily reported.
It unveiled the packages last March but soon shelved them due to the reservations of the telecom authority. With the packages, individuals pay a monthly charge for a certain period of phone usage. Calls covered in the packages may cost a mere 0.04 yuan (0.5 US cent) per minute, a 60-percent discount to the normal charge of 0.1 yuan.
The notion of a re-launch comes in response to the latest joint-notice circulated by the Ministry of Information Industry and the National Development and Reform Commission.
In the notice, approval has been granted for similar discount packages on fixed line services proposed by China Telecom, Shanghai Telecom's parent, and China Network Communications Group Corp.
This indicates a deregulation of the fixed line phone service by the central government, analysts pointed out.
Upbeat about the change, Shanghai Telecom is thinking of re-introducing the discount packages.
The company is now in negotiations with key local mobile telecom operators on revenue-sharing between the mobile networks and its fixed line system, according to a Shanghai Telecom official cited in the NBD report on condition of anonymity.
"If all goes smoothly, the packages will re-emerge in two months," the official expected.
Currently, fixed-line users pay a monthly service fee of 25 yuan, then 0.2 yuan for the first three minutes of a call and 0.1 yuan for each additional minute.