FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Where can I rent a cell phone in China?
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Old Jun 10, 2007, 7:36 am
  #11  
moondog
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Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 41,825
Originally Posted by GadgetFreak
Going to Beiing in a couple weeks. Am I reading the United Mobile info on www.prepaidgsm.net correctly that incoming calls are free on the cell phone in China?? Im just a bit confused about the origination and destination zones but think that those apply only to outgoing calls. Also, has anyone used a United Mobile card in Beijing and can comment on the service? Thanks.
I just sent you a PM, but for the benefit of the rest, the "perks" gap between China Mobile and Unicom has closed quite a bit over the past 2 months; now, they are pretty much on even footing. The flipside (and the motivation for CM's competitive responses) is that Unicom has made significant improvments in the reliability arena recently so the playing field is more or less level.

But, some of the old tenants still hold true (e.g. never buy a SIM at the airport and definitely pay the Y10 for free incoming if you think you'll need it).

As an aside, CM international rates have dropped substantially in recent months. While I'm not positive the new rates apply to prepaid (I think they do), it only costs y1.2 per minute to call the US, Canada, Japan, and Korea now, and y2 to call ~25 other frequently called countries.
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