Mobile Phone Rates and pricing information

[Jizzosh]

Because I will be in Beijing for a year and a half (at least), I will likely get a mobile for use there. Does anyone have any insight as to the rate structures in China / Beijing specifically?

Also, what are the average costs for the handsets? Granted, that's a large window, but for those who travel back and forth from the US to China and have an idea, are the sets cheaper there or here?

Finally, is the SIM card --charge up your minutes-- thing the way to go?

I just need to get a good idea of general prices for monthly bills so I can budget out enough money.

Thanks a million!

[roddy]

You can find lists of call charges here - it's all in Chinese, but if you copy and paste it into the Reading + Writing forum I'm sure someone will translate it for you

The two main options from China Mobile (there are other providers) are Shenzhouxing （神州行) which is the pay as you go option, and Gotone 全球通, the contract option. All the foreigners I know, and probably most of the Chinese, wind up with Shenzhouxing. You can get the top-up cards all over the place, usually from newspaper stalls and 小卖部's.

Gotone, I think, offers more flexibility and added value services, but as it's a contracted, speak first pay later service, you need to sign up with what I've always imagined to be an incredibly complicated process of providing bank account details, references from 2 college professors and a pound of (anyone's) flesh. I'm sure it's not that complicated.

As for handset costs, last time I looked they ran from 600Y to as much as you wanted to pay. You could look around the shopping sites attached to any of the major portals to get an idea. It's very easy to find second hand mobile phones, but if it subsequently gets stolen, just remember that what went around, came around . . .

Roddy

[Zingaro]

I second Roddy's advice. While I don't live in China, I travel there 3-4 times a year for 2-4 weeks at a time. I am self-employed in the US, so needed to have a phone I could use to call back to the US - economically. My phone also needed to provide me with a local number in China so my friends there can telephone me without paying long distance charges.

Phone purchase: Roddy's information on the costs to purchase a phone are accurate. I purchased an UNLOCKED GSM phone on Ebay for a very good price. You can find them new, unlocked (that's important) and GSM (that's important.) While other phone systems exist in China, GSM is the main system in use.

I suggest you buy the phone from an online vendor or on Ebay. When you get to Beijing, go to the nearest China Mobile office. They're the largest mobile provider in China. You can purchase the SIM card. The "shenzhouxing" pay as you go plan is the easiest to start up. It will meet all your basic mobile telephone needs. If you also need data/internet access via your mobile phone, you'll need a different plan.

You can buy phone cards to top up your minutes all over the place. Usually, I just go to the neighborhood China Mobile office and buy them in 100 yuan increments.

If you need to call the US using your mobile phone, you can use the "IP dialing" option with your China Mobile account. This means that you dial "17951" then the international access number, country code, area code and number. It is far cheaper than a direct-dial call, sound quality is just as good, etc.

Be sure to buy your SIM in China, in the city where you will spend most of your time. I originally bought a SIM from an online vendor before I went to China. It was a true China Mobile SIM, but the number associated with it was for a different city than the one where I live. Hence, toll and other charges for me and for those who telephoned me within China. I've since bought a new SIM for my city.

[skylee]

Now that Zingaro has mentioned it, could someone please explain what "IP" and "IC" mean and how they work? I have been asking people I know about this but none of them seem to know. I am an idiot, I know, so please help.

[roddy]

IP card = Internet Protocol, apparently. Basically a discount calling card - you dial an access number, an account number +PIN, then the number you want to call and then you get a cheaper call than calling direct. Lots of different varieties in China, usually sold at at least 50% of face value.

You also get IP services which don't require the purchase of a card - the numbers are displayed on adverts.

IC cards - Integrated Circuit Card - are the ones you use in pay phones. These are never (I think) sold at a discount. IC卡 is used to refer to any smart card as well, not just those for payphones.

Roddy

[Zingaro]

Yep, IP = Internet Protocol. It is, basically, a different way of routing calls. Rather than using traditiional land lines, IP dialing uses internet circuitry. This is NOT the same thing as "Voice over Internet Protocol - VOIP" offered by such companies as Skype. I know it's much more involved and technical than that, but this explanation will suffice for now.

I didn't need any special or separate discount card to use IP dialing with my China Mobile SIM and normal phone re-charge cards. It simply works by dialing "17951" in front of the rest of the number you're dialing. There may be some vendors who sell such discount cards, but I find that this method of dialing international numbers is simple, and about half the price of dialing directly.

For example: Direct Dialing the US from China costs about 8.8 RMB (about $1.10 US). IP dialing the same US number from China costs about 5.4 RMB (about $0.67 US).

I've never had a problem dialing from China to Taiwan or to the US with this method. It connects quickly and seemlessly, and sound quality usually is as good as "normal" dialing. I have family in Florida, and when I telephone them from China, they say I sound as if I'm calling locally, it's that clear.

I haven't tried using this IP dialing method for long distance calls within China, so I can't speak to how well it does or doesn't work. I use it only for international dialing.

[xiaoping]

There is good information and photos here on SIM cards:

http://www.thebeijingguide.com/communications/mobile_access_in_beijing.html

and IP cards:

http://www.thebeijingguide.com/communications/long_distance.html

[skylee]

OK. So an IP card is just an international calling card, which I have several. 還以為是甚麼高科技玩意兒. And an IC card is a pre-paid card you insert into payphones, right?

But don't you get charged twice if you use a handset for IP dialing? I mean charges on both the SIM card and the IP card.

[Jizzosh]

Thanks everyone for the answers!! You've all helped quite a bit.

[Konglong]

What's the average price for a SIM card from China Mobile? Heading to Shanghai tomorrow and will be getting one for my unlocked triband. Thanks.

K

[nerveandmuscle]

60 rmb with phone purchase and 80 rmb by itself is what i've gotten in Shanghai.