In addition to the widely reported suspension of Sohu.com, state-owned China Mobile also suspended the multimedia messaging services (MMS) licenses of Mtone Wireless, Shanghai Sifang, and V5009.com. All four companies, according to China Mobile, are under suspicion of sending unsolicited messages to users and then charging them for those messages.

China Mobile says that both the national and regional licenses of these service providers will be suspended for a year, starting September 1.

The companies will also not be able to apply for new mobile value-added services for six months.