In an effort to cash in on the 80th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), China Unicom, the country's second largest mobile phone operator, has launched its own military service.

Subscribers will be able to receive military news from the People's Liberation Army newspaper and download military songs and movies at a cost of between eight and ten yuan a month, or two yuan for each clip or track.

Yu Peng, a senior official with China Unicom, was coy when asked if the service, which has been running for a week, had been in high demand.

"It is too early to say - we are promoting the channel and carrying out market research as well as uploading songs, pictures and movies," he said.

"I believe it will be popular since we have so many military fans in China. We have more than 300,000 pictures of weapons and military figures in our database along with clips of hundreds of movies, such as Battle for Berlin, Normandy Invasion and Shang Ganling, a movie about the Korean War," he said.

"I guess I will subscribe to the service when more cool stuff, like the newest jet fighters and nuclear submarines, are added in the channel," said 28-year-old military nut Yang Yong.

"It's not just about making money. By doing it, we are celebrating the PLA's 80th anniversary," Yu said, "and, in the process, providing more healthy content through mobile phones."

(Xinhua News Agency July 31 2007)