Mobile number portability to start soon
By Rich Zhu |
November 2, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MOBILE number portability, which allows people to change carriers without having to change numbers, will start next month in Tianjin Municipality, mobile carriers said yesterday.
The move, which will take effect nationwide after trials in Tianjin and Hainan Province, is a necessary step to spark competition and growth in the telecommunications industry, insiders said. Smaller carriers like China Unicom and China Telecom are expected to benefit from the policy as they look to challenge the dominance of China Mobile.
China now has more than 800 million mobile users. As for 3G, there were about 34.99 million users and 15 million were TD-SCDMA users at the end of September, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.
In Tianjin, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom users can switch to other carriers without changing numbers, except TD-SCDMA users. People can switch to the TD-SCDMA network but not vice versa to protect the China-developed 3G technology and home-grown 3G industry, media reports said, citing officials at the carriers.
Mobile number portability will go nationwide "at the proper time," the ministry said previously.
China Telecom and China Unicom, Apple's domestic partner for the iPhone, are expected to benefit as the telecommunications fee will likely drop due to more competition among the rivals as they vie for customers. If China had number portability, many China Mobile customers would likely switch to China Unicom because of iPhone 4.
Meanwhile, China Mobile is expanding its 3G network nationwide to woo users. By the end of this year, its TD-SCDMA network will cover the entire nation.
The move, which will take effect nationwide after trials in Tianjin and Hainan Province, is a necessary step to spark competition and growth in the telecommunications industry, insiders said. Smaller carriers like China Unicom and China Telecom are expected to benefit from the policy as they look to challenge the dominance of China Mobile.
China now has more than 800 million mobile users. As for 3G, there were about 34.99 million users and 15 million were TD-SCDMA users at the end of September, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.
In Tianjin, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom users can switch to other carriers without changing numbers, except TD-SCDMA users. People can switch to the TD-SCDMA network but not vice versa to protect the China-developed 3G technology and home-grown 3G industry, media reports said, citing officials at the carriers.
Mobile number portability will go nationwide "at the proper time," the ministry said previously.
China Telecom and China Unicom, Apple's domestic partner for the iPhone, are expected to benefit as the telecommunications fee will likely drop due to more competition among the rivals as they vie for customers. If China had number portability, many China Mobile customers would likely switch to China Unicom because of iPhone 4.
Meanwhile, China Mobile is expanding its 3G network nationwide to woo users. By the end of this year, its TD-SCDMA network will cover the entire nation.
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