China Mobile defends mainland plan rates

Mainland users have been offered favorable plan rates since 2013, China Mobile, the country's largest telecom operator by subscribers, said on Weibo Wednesday, hoping to tone down accusations that it has been charging mainland users and Hong Kong subscribers different rates.

The telco has been offering far cheaper service packages in Hong Kong than in the mainland, business information portal ce.cn reported Wednesday, renewing a long-held double standard contention.

A staff member of China Mobile told the Global Times on condition of anonymity on Wednesday that the company's Hong Kong plan rates are not that "outrageous," and the carriers there "need to make a living"

For HK$68 (US$8.78) a month, the telco's Hong Kong consumers can enjoy unlimited local data, 1,700 minutes of free local calls and 10,000 text messages, while mainland users subscribing to a 58 yuan ($9.34) plan are offered only 350 minutes local calls, about 10 megabytes of data and no free text messages, the news portal said.

China Mobile said in a Weibo posting that it has been cutting its prices in the mainland since 2013, adding that the seemingly cost-effective monthly plan it offers in Hong Kong have strict limitations.

For example, the China Mobile staff member said that Hong Kong customers using the HK$68 plan have to sign a one-year contract and are not eligible for the carrier's other discounts during the year.

It is normal for multinationals to adopt different prices in various regions, the firm said on Weibo.