Little Smart entry cuts call fees
26/2/2004 15:19
Little Smart's possible entry into the Shanghai urban areas is sure to
cause a reduction in local mobile phone call fees, the Shanghai Evening Post
reported today.
Shanghai Telecom announced plans to establish the Little
Smart network, a limited range cordless phone technology based on fixed-line
networks, in the local suburban areas on May 17 last year, and with cheaper call
fees, the service has attracted 20,000 users there.
At the end of last year,
the Shanghai Telecom was sticking to the saying that Little Smart would not be
introduced to the local urban areas due to the hefty costs in establishing
thousands of base stations there.
By the end of January, Shanghai Telecom
changed its attitudes, saying that whether or not they will introduce Little
Smart to the local urban areas was currently under deliberation.
Shanghai's
handset call fees are the highest around the nation, and the entry of Little
Smart is sure to drag down such fees, said an industry analyst.
Today,
Shanghai Mobile offered new preferential policies for its users. Subscribers
with the Shanghai Mobile could previously make 190-minutes of local calls for 88
yuan (US$10.6) in monthly fees, but now, they can enjoy an additional 190
minutes of calls when calling users with the same Shanghai Mobile
network.
Shanghai Unicom offered new pre-paid CDMA services by charging calls
within the same network at only 0.18 yuan per minute and also a one-way charging
system for half a year.
Further reduction of handset call fees is expected
after the Little Smart services actually enter the local urban areas, the
analyst pointed out.
Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news
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