| Telcos urged to offer simple fee packages |
SHANGHAI, March 3 -- China's telecommunications regulator has urged telecom operators to stop offering complicated fee packages, which confuse the consumers who may end up paying for services they do not need, the Ministry of Information Industry said on its Website yesterday.
"Carriers often promote favorable terms in the complicated packages and don't disclose additional conditions that come with the packages," MII said on its Website. "That has hurt the rights of consumers."
Operators should simplify the fee packages and explain clearly how much users have to pay for each minute of a call, for example, the MII said.
The number of Chinese mobile phone users will hit 600 million in 2010 with a penetration rate of 45 percent, against 35 percent by December. The fixed-line phone subscribers are expected to reach 400 million with a penetration rate of 30 percent then, according to MII.
With the impending launch of 3G on the Chinese mainland, "they will launch price-sensitive packages," said Norson Telecom Consulting, a Beijing-based telecom consultant. It was referring to the third generation mobile phone technology which is in use in several countries and regions, including Singapore, Malaysia, Italy and the UK.
The six major Chinese carriers, including China Mobile, China Telecom, China Netcom, China Unicom, China Railcom and China Satcom, promised to improve services this year, said a statement on MII's Website.
The services include detailed bills for fixed-line phone users, opening a consumer hotline and a promise to respond to subscribers' complaints within 48 hours.
Since December, personal users of Shanghai Telecom, with eight million local fixed-line phone users, can check details of their calls such as the duration of each call and the phone number of the called party. It plans to expand the service to online users in the middle of this year.
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