China Mobile has announced the beginning of unconditional one-way charging for its mobile communications service in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
From now on, users of China Mobile's three affiliate brands of Gotone, Shenzhouxing and M-zone in Tibet can enjoy free and unlimited mobile phone answering. Previously, users were charged fees when they answered phone calls.
The peculiarities of Tibet's communications market is the very reason that the one-way charging policy has been first adopted in the region. Zhuo Feng, deputy general manager of China Mobile's Tibet Branch, says that income from mobile phone answering only accounts for 15% of Tibetan Mobile's total revenue. Zhuo believes that Tibet Mobile's average mobile communications price will decline by more than 30% after the one-way charging is adopted, but they will try to maintain their total profits at the same level with the past years by increasing user numbers and prolonging the calling time.
China's one-way charging tide surged in 1997, but it hasn't been really implemented though some mobile operators have launched packaged services which makes the calling fee close to that of one-way charging.