China Unicom unleashes mainland’s first nationwide unlimited 4G data plans
New initiative comes after company warns of sharp decline in full-year profit for 2016
China Unicom, with an eye to drive subscriber growth, has become the country’s first mobile network operator to offer unlimited data plans for nationwide use.
The landmark initiative comes four weeks after Unicom warned that its net profit for 2016 would fall by 94 per cent on an annual basis from 2015.
“It is the first time that a Chinese mobile network player has come up with an aggressive data plan for nationwide use, compared with previous unlimited data promotions that subscribers could only use within a specific city or province,” Jefferies equity analyst Edison Lee told the South China Morning Post on Monday.
The operator’s 198-yuan package provides 1,500 voice call minutes and 15 gigabytes of data usage a month, while the 398-yuan package – available for 199 yuan only until March 31 – offers unlimited voice call minutes and 40GB of data. Consumption beyond those 15GB and 40GB monthly packages will see data speeds reduced to 3G levels.
