China Mobile

If you are living in China, you will be asked to choose either China Mobile or China Unicom when you sign up for a contract or even on a pay as you go service for your mobile network. I don’t think there are lots to think about particularly when it comes to China. The thing is that if you do ask around, 9 person out of 10 person will tell you that they are using China Mobile instead of China Unicom. Why?

In order for us to answer the question, it is also important to know what the Chinese companies have done to their people so good as to be accepted 100% by their people. Look at mobile companies in the UK. Some of the companies need to restructure their infrastructure network while others need to improve on their customer services. Do you see such problems arise when it comes to China Mobile?

For starters, China Mobile is owned by the Chinese government. It is listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Hang Seng) and it is the biggest company to hold the most capital in China and most probably in the world too (I will not be surprised with that statement). The Chinese government poured in lots of capital to build the mobile network from scratch. One can argue that the Chinese Mobile Providers (both China Mobile (CMCC) and China Unicom) are slow to implement their existing GSM networks but they have their reasons for doing so.

As we know, China is a big country. Its population exceeds one third of the world’s population. As China is still a developing country, the government needs to help its citizens in many areas (ideas taken from Mao’s Communism) where everyone should have equal share. It goes the same to telecom connectivity too. I do remember writing an article about how advanced the Chinese mobile networks are but here is a closer look at it.

If you are in China and you need to get connected, no worries. You just need to have the cash to buy a pay as you go sim card and then register your details onto the server. This is easily done when you hand over your passport for them to register the sim card. Once it is done, all you need is to reload your card and you are ready to go!

Anyone in China will have to pay for incoming calls no matter whether it is from the same network or even from an international number. What you need is if you are using China Mobile or 中国移动，the best thing is to get a M-Zone or 动感地代 sim card. What it does is that you can pay RMB 6 a month for free incoming calls. In that case, incoming calls will be free. However, you need to make sure that you do meet the terms and conditions. In that sense, you are actually saving lots of money! You can also buy a text bundle or a data bundle depending on your needs. Personally, I do feel that both text and data bundle is good if you always use them.

Why choose China Mobile over China Unicom? Well, the coverage of China Mobile is extensive. You can get strong signals (both GSM and 3G although the Chinese 3G signal is not compatible with European UTMS frequency) wherever you are. It does not matter if you are underground, over ground, in the lift or in a shopping complex, you will still get strong signal. Perhaps this is a good way to encouraging big companies like Vodafone to invest more money to increase coverage in the underground tube stations in London. That will surely help to boost Vodafone’s subscribers.

Look at their current offering – They have increased customer base by removing roaming fees to customers who make calls from 35 countries in the world. That is a good start. Never ever follow what 3 UK is doing. Their bad customer service will only deter people from taking up a contract from them.

Go for China Mobile. It is excellent..