Mobile phone subscribers in Guangdong Province will no longer
pay for incoming calls as of Thursday, thanks to a new billing
scheme introduced by operators.
Subscribers will be jumping for joy at this news, but the
caller-pays scheme is nothing unusual in other parts of the
country. In recent years, operators in many regions, especially in
small cities, have introduced de facto one-way charging
schemes.
Many of these moves were opposed by the regulators. The Ministry
of Information Industry fined some defiant operators in a bid to
block the introduction of one-way charging under a government-set
system.
The introduction of one-way charging in Guangdong marks a
milestone in deregulation of the industry, as it is the first time
regulators have given a formal green light to the caller-pays
scheme.
One-way charging has always been controversial. Consumers have
been crying out for the scheme to be introduced, but the government
was reluctant to relax its grip as it was concerned one-way
charging could lead to losses for State-owned assets.
Although the top four telecom operators are listed companies,
their parents are all State-owned. As one-way charging could lead
to a drop in revenue, reports of possible one-way charging have led
to the stock of operators' listed arms being sold off.
The listed arms are being held hostage by investors. Whenever
there was a large sell-off, regulators reiterated that one-way
charging would not be allowed.
The change to mobile phone charges marks a major improvement in
regulators' governance of the telecom industry. Protection of
consumers' interests is becoming increasingly important, though
they are still not given the same priority as protection of
State-owned assets.
A government-set charging scheme could only create a protected
monopoly or duopoly that hurts consumers' interests. And that would
also hamper operators' willingness to open new revenue streams.
Monopoly or duopoly, in fact, also leads to a loss of
State-owned assets as it hinders competition and results in
inefficiency.
In that context, it's of little significance to argue whether
one- or two-way charging should be adopted. As long as the costs of
mobile calls continue to drop and become reasonable, consumers will
not care much about whether it is a one- or two-way charge.
(China Daily January 30, 2007)