China Telecom Plans to Modify Rates on Phone CallsChina Telecom, China's major fixed-line phone operator, plans to raise its charge on local calls, while reduce fees on long-distance calls, according to company sources.Local phone calls within a city or county would be cut from 0.18 yuan (two US cents) every three minutes, to 0.10 yuan (US$0.012) or 0.12 yuan (US$0.014) per minute. And, it will slash prices of long distance calls to other countries or other localities within China, by up to 50 per cent, according to the plan. Also, there might be a surcharge of 0.10 yuan (US$0.012) on every phone call, which could raise the cost of a three-minute phone call to 0.40 yuan (US$0.048) to 0.46 yuan (US$0.058). China Telecom has submitted the plan to the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and the State Development Planning Commission (SDPC) for review and approval, the sources said. Domestic long-distance calls would be adjusted to a rate of 0.60 yuan (US$0.072) or 0.70 yuan (US$0.084) per minute, according to the plan. China Telecom now charges about 15 yuan (US$1.807) per minute for an International Direct Dial (IDD) call to the United States. By contrast, US operators charge between 30 US cents and 50 US cents a minute -- 2.48 yuan (US$0.299) to 4.14 yuan (US$0.499). The new rates are expected to come into force by the end of this year once it is approved by relevant government departments. China Telecom twice lowered IDD and other charges, but they remain high. |
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