MIIT Requires Mobile Operators to Warn of Overage Charges
Dahe.cn, 1/30/12
On January 12, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued the Notice Regarding Improvements to Subscriber Service Fee Reminders, in which it set forth the requirement that operators alert subscribers of service charges. Operators will be required to remind subscribers of service charges, at no additional cost, starting in July. In the event that a subscriber has come close to monthly limits for their subscription package, for instance, telecommunications operators will be required to alert the user of their total usage for the month and the monthly package limit via timely SMS, voice notification, or popup notifications. Operators will also be required to inform subscribers of the costs for exceeding plan limits, and of how to check their account balance. Operators must also inform subscribers traveling internationally or in Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan of local voice, text, and mobile data charges in a timely and proactive fashion.
When contacted yesterday, a customer service representative for China Mobile (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) said that the operator already notifies subscribers via SMS before they reach their monthly mobile data limits. A China Unicom (NYSE: CHU; 0762.HK; 600050.SH) service representative said that subscribers can currently choose to be notified of their remaining data usage by daily or weekly SMS messages, while a China Telecom (NYSE: CHA; 0728.HK) service representative said that subscribers currently receive an SMS notification when they reach their plan limit. China Mobile only notifies users of monthly SMS limits after they have exceeded their monthly SMS allowance, while neither Unicom nor Telecom alerts users at all. None of the operators currently informs users of international/Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan roaming charges.
Keywords: international roaming regulation China Telecom China Mobile China Unicom mobile data wireless MIIT SMS CHL 0728.HK 0762.HK 0941.HK 600050.SH CHA CHU tariffs
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