Satellite TV fee increases 10-fold
By Yang Jian |
December 28, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FOREIGN residents in a Shanghai community were shocked to find their satellite TV fee has increased almost tenfold for next year.
Householders in Yanlord Town in the Pudong New Area were informed the subscription fee for 2011 is more than 15,000 yuan (US$2,262), compared to the previous year's 1,800 yuan figure.
By paying the money to the state-owned China International Television Corp, the sole legal satellite TV operator in China, they can watch eight additional international channels, including the BBC, Discovery and HBO.
"The increase is unjustifiable and almost forced us to choose illegal services, which are far cheaper," said David Propp, who have lived in the community since 2007.
Most people in China use illegal satellite TV services that usually require installing a dish outside their apartment. The service costs around 1,000 yuan to set up, with no subsequent fees.
More than 300 of the 500 regular subscribers in Yanlord Town have now canceled their subscriptions, said a member of the community management team, surnamed Han.
There are around 4,000 households in the community. Propp said most satellite TV users were foreigners.
The price has increased because the Beijing-based corporation changed its pricing policy for 2011, a Yanlord Town manager surnamed Zhang told Shanghai Daily.
Now all households, regardless of whether they subscribe, are included when the total price a community should pay is calculated.
Previously, a community paid according to the number of subscribers.
"The community had no choice but to ask the actual subscribers to bear the cost," Zhang said.
Yanlord Town is expected to pay 7.5 million yuan in 2011 for all its 4,000 families.
"The new price policy is unreasonable because an increase of users would not add any cost to the corporation," said Wu Dong, a lawyer in Shanghai from the M&A Law Firm.
Wu said the corporation's pricing should be overseen by the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top planning body, because the company is the only service provider in the industry.
The new policy had been rolled out in 100 communities in Shanghai, said the corporation's Shanghai office head surnamed Xu.
Xu admitted the company had received complaints but, so far, Beijing headquarters had no plans for change.
An official surnamed Wang in the company's Beijing headquarters said pricing policies are different across China based on economic conditions in different regions.
He said Shanghai was not the only city where the new policy was introduced, but declined to name the others.
Householders in Yanlord Town in the Pudong New Area were informed the subscription fee for 2011 is more than 15,000 yuan (US$2,262), compared to the previous year's 1,800 yuan figure.
By paying the money to the state-owned China International Television Corp, the sole legal satellite TV operator in China, they can watch eight additional international channels, including the BBC, Discovery and HBO.
"The increase is unjustifiable and almost forced us to choose illegal services, which are far cheaper," said David Propp, who have lived in the community since 2007.
Most people in China use illegal satellite TV services that usually require installing a dish outside their apartment. The service costs around 1,000 yuan to set up, with no subsequent fees.
More than 300 of the 500 regular subscribers in Yanlord Town have now canceled their subscriptions, said a member of the community management team, surnamed Han.
There are around 4,000 households in the community. Propp said most satellite TV users were foreigners.
The price has increased because the Beijing-based corporation changed its pricing policy for 2011, a Yanlord Town manager surnamed Zhang told Shanghai Daily.
Now all households, regardless of whether they subscribe, are included when the total price a community should pay is calculated.
Previously, a community paid according to the number of subscribers.
"The community had no choice but to ask the actual subscribers to bear the cost," Zhang said.
Yanlord Town is expected to pay 7.5 million yuan in 2011 for all its 4,000 families.
"The new price policy is unreasonable because an increase of users would not add any cost to the corporation," said Wu Dong, a lawyer in Shanghai from the M&A Law Firm.
Wu said the corporation's pricing should be overseen by the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top planning body, because the company is the only service provider in the industry.
The new policy had been rolled out in 100 communities in Shanghai, said the corporation's Shanghai office head surnamed Xu.
Xu admitted the company had received complaints but, so far, Beijing headquarters had no plans for change.
An official surnamed Wang in the company's Beijing headquarters said pricing policies are different across China based on economic conditions in different regions.
He said Shanghai was not the only city where the new policy was introduced, but declined to name the others.
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