ChinaMobileCharges
This info is all taken from the Shanghai China Mobile website, translated by MicahSittig on 2005-01-25.
The fee schedule is pretty simple, but I translate it here into English:
Local Calls
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RMB .15 (ie 1.5 mao) a minute for calls initiated to other China Mobile users (135-139) in Shanghai.
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Free to receive calls from other China Mobile users in Shanghai.
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RMB .60 (ie 6 mao) a minute for calls to landlines and users of other companies (131) in Shanghai.
SMS
RMB 0.15 per message to CM users, RMB 0.20 to non-CM users, receiving is free.
Domestic Long Distance
If the user is in Shanghai, the charges are the same as for local calls. Otherwise, the fee formula is:
(local fee) + (RMB .07 per 6 seconds)
For example, a 10 minute call to your friend across Shanghai who is also a CM user will cost RMB 1.5, but the same 10 minute call to your CM-using friend in Beijing will cost RMB 1.5 + RMB ( 0.07 * 10 * 10 ), or RMB 8.5
Domestic Roaming
Domestic roaming is not enabled by default, and must be turned on (though I can't figure out where). It has a montly fee of RMB 30.
MMS
On a different page I find that MMS cost RMB 0.90 per message, but are also "send two get one free". So effectively RMB 0.60.
GPRS
From the page about WAP, I find this complicated fee schedule for GPRS usage:
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Each minute is RMB 0.15
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Usage of less than one minute is not billed.
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Bonus for heavy usage:
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> 200 minutes gets 300 more minutes free.
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starting the 501st minute, pay RMB 0.15 (the normal rate)
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From the below sample bill I calculate a fee of RMB 0.03 per minute of connection time; strange, I don't see that rate anywhere in the literature. Not a bad price, but I managed to rack up nearly 39 hours in December. Yikes!
Note
Note that these rates are all labelled as "Shanghai China Mobile", so they may not apply to CM phones using the Shenzhou Popular Card (神州行大众卡) in other parts of China.
Here's a sample list of calls:
呼叫类型 对端号码 通话日期 通话时长 基本费用
主叫 1356xxxx92 2004-10-02 12:43:48 00:00:54 0.15
被叫 021xxxx061 2004-10-08 09:21:33 00:00:54 0.60
被叫 0216xxxx29 2004-10-09 18:44:13 00:01:07 1.20
被叫 0215xxxxx06 2004-10-15 18:26:44 00:02:30 1.80
被叫 0216xxxxx57 2004-10-17 13:04:22 00:01:38 1.20
被叫 0216xxxxx61 2004-10-18 11:49:25 00:01:51 1.20
主叫 6267xxxx5 2004-10-18 13:00:14 00:00:14 0.60
被叫 1360xxxxx81 2004-10-18 13:22:56 00:00:34 0.00
主叫 1358xxxx900 2004-10-18 13:36:59 00:01:58 0.30
被叫 0215xxxx6807 2004-10-18 19:15:40 00:02:52 1.80
主叫 566xxxx7 2004-10-18 19:20:36 00:00:43 0.60
主叫 13816xxxxx9 2004-10-18 19:55:29 00:00:43 0.15
被叫 13816xxxxx9 2004-10-18 19:57:16 00:00:10 0.00
被叫 0215xxxx06 2004-10-18 20:02:28 00:00:55 0.60
被叫 0215xxxx06 2004-10-18 20:06:19 00:00:44 0.60
被叫 0216xxxx1 2004-10-18 20:45:47 00:00:48 0.60
Here's how much money I've fed into my phone:
2004-09-29 18:50:51 100.00
2004-11-05 06:22:40 100.00
2004-11-20 14:50:37 100.00
2004-12-14 14:36:49 100.00
2005-01-01 20:45:10 100.00
2005-01-22 01:51:59 100.00
余额: 89.93(元)
Which works out to about RMB 500 over 4 months. That means I've been paying about RMB 125 a month, which is about USD 15. Not bad, considering I spend a little time each day reading the Yahoo news and Slashdot on my little WAP browser.
Here're my December expenses, broken down:
| Service | Occurrences | Billable Units | Cost |
| 神州行大众卡月租费 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 本地基本通话费 | 51 | 101 | 44.1 |
| 短信费 | 157 | 0 | 25.8 |
| GPRS通信费 | 556 | 2328 | 69.84 |
| 彩信费 | 38 | 0 | 23.4 |
| 173.14 |
A total of RMB 173, or USD 21 almost exactly (and up from RMB 147 in November). My first reaction is that the total is pretty reasonable. But there's a lot of "vanity cost" because I'm really not that "social" on my phone; I spend a lot of time spent reading news online and sending photos to my website via MMS. Although 157 text messages in a month is not that shabby for a "not that social" person.