Unicom to expand pre-paid CDMA cards nationwide
16/6/2003 15:01
China United Communications Co., the country's only telecom operator of
CDMA, will expand pre-paid cards in August for its Code-Division Multiple Access
service, today's Sina.com reported, citing a spokesman with the
company.
Launched this April, the pre-paid service is currently available
at China Unicom's branches in seven areas, including Guangdong, Heilongjiang,
Shanxi, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and
Chongqing.
The pre-paid cards are in fact China Unicom's subsidy policy
to cut fees for its CDMA users in an attempt to attract more customers to the
3-generation technology.
This nationwide expansion for the service has
become possible after China Unicom purchased one million CDMA1X mobile phones
from two domestic phone manufacturers, ZTE Corp and Hisense Group, the Sina.com
report said.
The company has paid from 700 to 800 yuan (US$85-97) each
for these phones, and made it possible to sell the phones at retail prices of no
more than 1,000 yuan, a key psychological price threshold for China's CDMA
phones, according to the report.
It will market the phones bundled with
the pre-paid cards as a promotion for the card service.
Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news
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