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Ministry Dismisses IP Phone Price-Cut Speculation
China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) has dismissed market speculation of an imminent cut in IP phone prices, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Monday.
The announcement which came in response to mounting calls for price cuts from people working in the industry. They argued that internet protocol (IP) phone profits were considerable but costs were very low.
They said the prices for long-distance IP phone calls should fall due to the increased competition among the mainland operators.
However, a MII official said although the ministry was planning some price adjustments, IP phone prices were not included.
According to him, present IP phone prices were fixed by MII. The IP phone prices are 0.3 yuan per minute on fixed phones and 0.7 yuan on mobile phones, which are much cheaper than ordinary telephone calls, priced at around 1.00 yuan per minute.
Cheaper prices has attracted many customers throughout the country, though the business is still limited to major cities.
Competition among the five operators, China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile, Jitong and China Netcom has intensified.
IP cards are now available at numerous outlets in China's major cities are sometimes sold for less than face value, according to observers.
However the technology of domestic IP phone operators was in need of improvement. Many customers complained that dialing method was too complicated and limited lines caused congestion.
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