Chinese telecom firms scrap roaming fees from September
China’s three big telecom firms stand to loose billions of yuan from cancelling domestic roaming charges
China’s three state-owned telecommunications companies announced on Thursday that they will scrap domestic roaming charges for mainland users from September 1, one month ahead of the original schedule.
China Unicom, China Mobile and China Telecom made the announcement in separate statements. China Telecom also said it would cancel domestic long-distance charges from Septmber 1.
At the same time, the three companies have pledged to lower internet access and leased line fees for small and medium-sized enterprises, and cut international long-distance voice tariffs as part of China’s overall effort to cut consumer costs and encourage companies to adopt new technologies.
In March, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang renewed his call for the country’s three telecommunication network operators to “raise speed, drop prices”. The three companies had immediately agreed and pledged to implement the changes by October 1.
Yang Jie, chairman of China Telecom, said in a forum on Thursday that about 80 million users were expected to benefit from free domestic long-distance and roaming services.