Beijing's Phone Applications SoarChina's scrapping of telephone installation fees on July 1 has resulted in an unprecedented soaring of phone applications in Beijing, sources at Beijing Telecom said.The company received nearly 130,000 applications in July, compared with 30,000 in an ordinary month. The charge for installation fees over the past two decades has helped China build up one of the world's largest and most advanced telecommunications networks. But, with the facilities in place, it has come under fierce criticism from the public. According to company sources, all the applications are satisfied within 10 days, much shorter than the one month deadline promised by the firm. Company officials also claimed that there has been no apparent rise in complaints from customers regarding installation time or quality of services. The cancellation of the installation fee was kept strictly secret before the official announcement on July 1. The authorities announced that those who had paid the installation fee before July 1 but had not had their phones installed by that date will get their money back. |
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