| Cell-phone users say roaming fees too high |
SHANGHAI, June 1 -- Mobile phone users want less, as in less costly fees for roaming.
Roaming rates can be more than 10 times the price of a local call and some frequent travelers complain that prices are unreasonable.
"The excessive roaming fee is sometimes even higher than the cost of a hotel or flight," said Jenny Lee, a public relations agency employee based in Shanghai.
Lee, a Shanghai Mobile's "GoTone" subscriber, received a 1,075-yuan (US$139.61) mobile phone bill in April. The roaming fee was 788 yuan. She was in Beijing twice for business that month.
According to Shanghai Mobile and Shanghai Unicom's common fee policy, they charge users 1.30 yuan a minute - 0.60 yuan for roaming and 0.70 yuan for a long distance call - for both outgoing and incoming calls when users are outside Shanghai. Local calls cost about 0.12 yuan per minute.
"It is groundless to charge users such a high rate as the cost for roaming service is similar to e-mail," said Kan Kaili, a professor at Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications.
Operators spend about 0.02 yuan per minute to provide roaming services, making it the most profitable sector for these companies, a source at China Mobile, who declined to be identified, told Shanghai Daily.
Upper limit
An upper limit for roaming will be set, the Ministry of Information Industry and the National Development and Reform Commission said in April on their respective Websites. No timetable was given.
Industry insiders said the cap will likely be between 0.20 yuan and 0.40 yuan a minute.
"We can't offer free incoming calls in other provinces," said a source at China Unicom, who also declined to be identified. "We have to pay the brother firms, like the Beijing branch, network access fees when our users are in those cities."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information Industry conducted an online survey from May 8 about people's attitudes towards roaming rates. It found that the roaming fee should be 0.05 yuan to 0.20 yuan higher per minute than a local call.
The survey ended yesterday and final results were not yet available.
Previously, CCTV conducted a survey of 16 people in front of a handset store. All that responded said the present roaming fee is too high.
The European Union is also considering establishing a limit for roaming services.
In an effort to appease customers, China Mobile and China Unicom have launched packages for business executives. One package charges users 58 yuan for 150 minutes of calls, whether it is local or long distance, and 0.40 yuan for each minute beyond 150. Local calls usually cost about 0.12 yuan.
Get creative
Thus, users either pay high roaming fees or fork out for incoming calls, unless they get creative like Angela Wang, a marketing and promotions manager at a dotcom firm. She bought two handsets and often buys SIM cards for cities that she travels to regularly.
"Compared to the high roaming fee, an extra handset is more affordable," said Wang.
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