Users in dark over cut-price data deals
Mainland providers accused of insincere response to premier's call to cut prices with one of the 'bargains' only good from 11pm to 7am
The mainland's biggest mobile phone service providers have been accused of a "lack of sincerity" after announcing a raft of cut price internet and data plans in response to Premier Li Keqiang's call to ramp up speeds and cut charges to promote innovation.
China Mobile on Friday announced eight plans it said cut charges by more than 35 per cent and offered more data usage.
On the same day, China Unicom said it would cut mobile data fees by 20 per cent, and China Telecom said it would slash unit bandwidth fees by 35 per cent.
But despite the pledges of bargains, some users attacked the deals as "tasteless" publicity stunts, saying the benefits were often hobbled by the fine print.
One of China Mobile's new plans, which offers users 1GB of extra mobile data usage between 11pm and 7am at a monthly charge of 10 yuan (HK$13) attracted particular criticism.
"I can use WiFi at home at night, why should I pay for such a plan? I don't think I can enjoy any benefits from their new promotions," said Zhang Han, a user of China Mobile in Beijing.
"I think the new preferential plans are a bit tricky. It seems there are a lot of new benefits, but many of them are useless to me."