Zhou Jingtai's mobile phone plan choice is harder than it seems. The decision involves whether to accept a new mobile plan that charges for only outgoing calls, rather than both outgoing and incoming calls. Beijing Mobile, China Mobile's wholly owned subsidiary, is offering a new service package starting on February 8 to its GoTone service subscribers-of which Zhou is one-that allows them to receive incoming calls for free.

But there are new fees involved with the new package that may outweigh the benefits of free incoming calls.

"I think the new packages are not cost efficient to me since my incoming calls are almost as many as my outgoing calls," Zhou said.

Four categories are available for subscribers, the company said, ranging from 99 yuan to 299 yuan per month. They mainly differ in the price of local calls. Users can subscribe to the new package on the company's website or by sending a text message.

This marks the first time Beijing Mobile has provided a payment package with free incoming calls, following a similar scheme made by Guangdong Mobile at the end of January. But whether the growing movement toward "caller-pay" schemes will truly benefit consumers has yet to be decided.

Long awaited caller-pay

The dual-charging system--for both incoming and outgoing calls--was initiated for China's mobile operators in the early stages of mobile development. Chinese users have long complained about the high price of mobile communications given that both incoming and outgoing calls are charged, unlike fixed-line telephones, which only charge for outgoing calls. However, mobile operators have refused to budge, insisting on charging for both outgoing and incoming calls under the pretense of making ends meet.

According to Zeng Jianqiu, a professor at the Economics and Management School of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, both one-way charging and two-way charging mechanisms have been adopted worldwide. Most European countries, India and Japan have had caller-pay policies for years, while the United States, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macao charge both incoming and outgoing calls.

Following Zeng's explanation, the reason China adopted two-way charging mechanisms is because the country learned that the first generation of Chinese mobile telecom systems came from the United States, where both incoming and outgoing calls are charged. Moreover, in the early stages of Chinese telecom development, a huge amount of capital was needed. With two-way charging mechanisms, the mobile telecom industry could generate more revenue to speed up network construction and startup of the business.