(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-07 16:35

Domestic roaming service charges by China's two monopolistic mobile phone providers are unreasonable and should be scrapped, or at least lowered, the Beijing Consumers' Association said in a statement on Monday.

The association, which worked to protect consumer's rights and interest, said high mobile roaming service fees were among its most frequently received complaints.

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Most of the country's 539 million mobile subscribers paid between 33 to 50 percent more for phone calls made or received on their cell phones when they traveled to another province.

The mobile service providers said such service fees were charged to cover the extra operation costs incurred when cross-province calls were transferred from one local operator to another.

Experts, however, said new technologies had lowered operational costs - some argued roaming calls actually incurred no extra cost for the operators.

The cutting of domestic roaming fees had also become a worldwide trend. "Many developed countries in Europe, North America and Asia have already scrapped roaming service fees," said Professor Zeng Jianqiu of the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.

China's National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Information Industry planned to hold a hearing in Beijing later this month to reset the ceiling price for domestic mobile roaming charges.

The hearing would be attended by five consumers - including one from Beijing - as well as representatives from mobile service providers, experts, scholars and relevant government officials.

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