International roaming charges plunge, telecom charges cut across the board to break the ice

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International roaming charges plunge, telecom charges cut across the board to break the ice [Copy link]

International roaming charges plunge, telecom charges cut across the board to break the ice

2006-7-13

On June 9, China Mobile announced to reduce the international roaming charges of Global Connect across all its services and implement unified roaming charges for international and Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. After the unified charges were implemented, the international roaming charges were significantly reduced, with the charges for incoming calls, 139 services and GPRS roaming services reduced by an average of 50%. At the same time, an insider revealed that following China Mobile, China Unicom is also planning to reduce international roaming charges.

International operators set up cards

An insider in charge of international business of China Mobile revealed that the reduction of international roaming charges is not an ordinary adjustment of charges, but a very difficult task. According to international practice, the international roaming charges are set by adding 15% to the settlement price set by the roaming operator. In a word, the charges are decided by whoever is on the territory. This principle has become the main reason for the high international roaming charges. Take Russia as an example. Not only is the international roaming charge in this country high, but the charge standards are also very complicated. Not only are the charge standards different between different operators, but even the contracts provided by the same operator include different types and charge standards. The main mobile companies in this country, relying on their network coverage advantages, refused to give up the settlement price of 57 yuan/minute for dialing back to China offered by the Chinese operators in the rate negotiations. The settlement prices offered by other companies in this country are also around 30 yuan.

The person also said that factors such as industry regulations and currency exchange rate changes in various countries also directly affect the settlement price of international roaming charges. Even if the international roaming settlement price in some countries is seriously deviated from the local rate level, local operators insist on using the high roaming settlement price originally set for their own interests.

Domestic operators' game

As early as the Barcelona 3GSM Conference, China Mobile President Wang Jianzhou sent out a signal to reduce international roaming charges. Later, the World Cup in Germany became the fuse for the overall reduction of international roaming charges. It is revealed that in the future, as the progress of the rate negotiations with international operators progresses, domestic operators will adjust the international roaming rate level at any time.

After China Mobile launched the unified international roaming rate plan, it divided international roaming into 12 rate areas and Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau roaming into 3 rate areas. In the future, mobile phone users will enjoy the same roaming rate no matter which roaming network they use when roaming in a certain country or region; within the same rate area, no matter which country the customer roams to, the rate will be the same.

Previously, international roaming charges were set in stone and had not been loosened for many years. The magnitude of the reduction this time was somewhat unexpected. The unified charges this time mainly adjusted the charges for incoming calls and GPRS. For example, when a customer roams to the United States, the local call cost 9.11 yuan/minute before the unification, but it was reduced to 4.99 yuan/minute after the unification, a decrease of 45%; the call back to China cost 20.15 yuan/minute before the unification, but it was reduced to 12.99 yuan/minute after the unification, a decrease of 36%; and the incoming call charge also dropped from 18.31 yuan/minute before the unification to 5.99 yuan/minute, a decrease of 67%.

Zeng Jianqiu, a professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, said that domestic operators have already reached a considerable scale, and the scale effect is enough to enable them to still have considerable profit margins after lowering phone charges.

Domestic long-distance and roaming avalanche?

"International roaming charges may further decline." A person in charge of international business of China Mobile said that since 2003, China Mobile has been conducting tough negotiations with international operators one by one, and has reached agreements with most countries, making foreign operators make concessions in reducing roaming settlement prices. However, in some countries, telecommunication charges are set by the government, and in other countries, they are operated under exclusive monopoly, so there is not much room for further reduction of charges.

With the decline of local call charges and international roaming charges, domestic long-distance call charges and roaming charges have become the next breakthrough that users are looking forward to. It is reported that Beijing Mobile is planning to launch long-distance packages on long-distance call charges and roaming charges. Previously, Chengdu, Shanghai, Qingdao and other places have launched discounts and packages for long-distance calls and significantly reduced roaming charges. However, some experts said that long-distance call charges and roaming charges are a lucrative business for operators. At the same time, each region adopts a separate settlement system, and price reduction will involve the interests of many parties. However, the overall trend of telecommunications price reduction is unstoppable. With the intensification of competition among domestic telecommunications operators and the slowdown in the growth rate of new network users, the price competition has become the main theme of the next round of competition.