China launched a mobile number portability program across the country Wednesday, allowing cellphone subscribers to switch service carriers without changing phone numbers, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology or MIIT.
Mobile phone users nationwide will be able to switch service carriers without changing phone numbers by the end of November, the MIIT said.
Technology, systems and rules for services related to the program have been implemented after nationwide trial operation, it said.
The ministry has asked related enterprises to rectify problems exposed during the trial, such as some carriers creating obstacles for the service switch, said Lu Chuncong, an MIIT official, noting that the program will promote benign competition among enterprises.
The country's three major telecom companies, China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom, have promised to improve the transparency of their services.
As of Nov. 26, about 3.16 million subscribers have completed number porting in five pilot provincial-level regions, showed MIIT data.
According to MIIT, China will extend 1,000-megabyte broadband connection to more than 300 cities and cut the average service rates by 15 percent for small and midsized enterprises this year.
As part of efforts to improve services, the meeting urged telecommunication service providers to straighten out their service packages to trim the packages available by more than 15 percent within this year.
The country will extend 1,000MB broadband to more than 300 cities, with base stations for the mobile internet set to be upgraded with expanded capacity. The goal is to raise the speed of both fixed-line and mobile internet services to 1,000MB.
The meeting has also set a target of expanding the coverage of broadband networks to 97 percent of primary and middle schools nationwide this year, and dedicated internet services will be made available over time in hospitals and medical consortiums above the county level.
As part of efforts to further lower prices, the average broadband service rate for small and midsized enterprises will be cut by 15 percent this year, with the average rate for mobile internet services down by more than 20 percent.
Meanwhile, roaming charges for internet traffic between the mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions will be cut by 30 percent, and a "floor-price" rate will be set for low-income and elderly populations.
（source:ourjiangsu.com）
