China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) will grant
fixed-line operators licenses for mobile telecom services "at an
early date", a senior official said here on Sunday.
The move would give the country's fixed-line operators, who have
suffered losses in subscribers in recent months, equal footing with
mobile service providers in competition for the huge telecom
market.
MII Vice Minister Xi Guohua told a telecom forum that the rapid
development of mobile telecom services had lured away subscribers
of fixed-line services.
According to ministry statistics, the number of newly-added
mobile phone users was 6.91 million in the first nine months,
compared with 430,000 new fixed-liner users.
New fixed-line users have been at a record low of 200,000 every
month since May. Losses in subscribers were also recorded in August
and September.
Zeng Jianqiu, a professor with the Beijing University of Posts
and Telecommunications, said: "The canceling of fees for receiving
calls via mobile phones since the beginning of this year has made
it more difficult for fixed-line phones to compete with the more
advanced and convenient mobile technologies."
Xi added that more than half of the country's mobile phone users
had enjoyed the service of receiving calls free as promoted by the
prepaid service packages.
Mobile phone users previously paid for both making and receiving
calls, a difference that favored the fixed-line service which gave
the latter certain advantage in vying for subscribers.
"The sagging performance of the fixed-line market has come to a
point where it cannot be fixed by operators themselves," Zeng said.
He urged the government to give fixed-line operators access to
mobile services.
"It could create more competition in the telecom market and
would benefit consumers."
Statistics revealed China's telecom service charges have been
declining in recent years. The average charges were 62 percent
lower in 2006 compared with that in 2001, or 11.5 percent lower if
compared with the 2005 level.
The country's total phone users have exceeded 900 million until
present, said Xi, adding that more than half of the revenue of the
telecom sector was contributed by mobile services.
However, rural areas, especially those in central and western
China, still lagged behind for coverage of phone services, as users
were highly concentrated in coastal areas and the cities.
(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2007)
