Handset rates sure to cut this year
5/2/2004 15:16
With excessive profit margins, mobile phone call rates will definitely
decline this year, said Kan Kaili, a famous telecom expert, the Beijing Morning
Post reported yesterday.
"For any listed mobile communication operators, it
is good for them to gain 8 percent of pure profit rate, and well off to generate
18 percent in pure profits, while the China Mobile reported 28 percent in the
rate last year," Kan said.
The existing telecom charging management cannot
meet the market demand, and the Ministry of Information Industry is currently
adjusting the ways of monitoring domestic telecom charges, according to
officials with the ministry.
"Allowing mobile communication operators to
fluctuate the handset call rates within a limited range can lead to an orderly
market competition," Kan suggested.
However, lowering the rates doesn't mean
offering the one-way charging system, he stressed, adding that consumers'
longing for one-way charging system was due to their dissatisfaction with the
existing handset call rates.
The one-way handset call rate charging system is
adopted in some European regions, with different phone numbers adopted in
different mobile networks, and fixed-line phone users should pay extra fees when
calling handset users. In US and Canada, two-way charging system is still
adopted.
Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news
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