China Unicom: Cut in Local Roaming Charges to Hit Revenues

HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- China Unicom said late Thursday it will adjust local mobile roaming charges to comply with a government directive on tariff reductions.

China Unicom, the country's second-largest mobile operator by subscribers after China Mobile, said the tariff cut would weigh on its revenue.

The Ministry of Information Industry and the National Development and Reform Commission Wednesday issued the notice reducing the tariff cap for domestic mobile roaming services, the company said in a statement.

China Unicom said the new rules will abolish the additional charges on the use of the domestic long distance network for roaming mobile calls, and also unify the charges for pre-paid and post-paid mobile subscribers.

"While such adjustments may have an impact on the revenue of the company, the company will continue to expand its customer base, develop its value-added services and strengthen its existing services in order to minimize such impact," China Unicom said.

-By Lorraine Luk, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; lorraine.luk@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 15th February 2008