The company announced a switch from flat monthly fees plus usage to a multi-tiered pricing system, which immediately worried the Chinese mobile sector. The main concern is that such a change in tariff policy may initialize a change in government attitude, namely to allow greater competition in what has previously been one of the most regulated and domestically controlled markets in the world.
Some analysts predict that the country’s total number of subscribers will grow 50% from an estimated 73 million last year to 105 million by the end of 2001.
Singularly China Mobile has grown its subscriber base from about 20 million at the end of 1999 to 50 million currently, making it the world’s second-largest mobile phone company after Vodafone.
Previously the regulator, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), has mandated a tariff system by which, China Unicom is able to undercut China Mobile’s existing tariffs by 10%. However, the latest changes effectively put the pair on a level playing field, signalling a possible switch towards a more open regulatory.
