China Mobile goes over the top in international retail expansion

An onslaught of companies offering voice calls and text messaging for free over the internet has forced telecommunications network operators to radically rethink their business models.

Increasingly, they are giving away to customers services they have long charged them for – and China is at the forefront of this change.

China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless network operator, has put its best foot forward in an effort to keep up with the times with the international launch on Monday of “Jego”, a voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) mobile application that has Microsoft’s Skype squarely in its cross-hairs.

“The industry today is totally different, compared with 30 years ago,” Tiger Lin Zhenhui, chairman and chief executive of Hong Kong-based China Mobile International, said.

“Traditional telecommunications services are being replaced by internet applications.

“In this industry transformation, we have focused on providing mobile communications [through] a voice app. It’s an over-the-top [OTT] business model that meets the overwhelming demand for international direct dial roaming and benefits people with close connections to China.”