All-network smartphones change mobile tech game
to support the mainstream technologies, indicating that there is no need to include the CDMA mode, which is backed by China Telecom.
Also, China Mobile, the world’s largest telecom carrier by subscribers, said in its advertisements for dual-SIMcard contract smartphones that consumers can use only China Mobile’s 4G network when one of the two SIM cards is China Mobile’s.
There is not such a requirement for China Unicom and China Telecom’s contract phones.
Fu Liang, an independent analyst, said, “China Mobile is trying to safeguard its dominant position in the sector, but China Unicom and China Telecom are offering data packs at far lower costs, which will significantly increase their popularity.”
As of May, China Mobile had 863 million subscribers, including 583 million 4G users. China Telecom and China Unicom had 147 million and 133 million 4G subscribers respectively.
Yang Yafei, a student of the University of International Relations, uses China Unicom’s mobile services. He said, “I prefer multi-SIM devices. They are very convenient. I don’t think China Mobile’s efforts to limit the choice of telecom carriers within a dual-SIM handset will pay off. After all, we are free to choose whatever telecom services we like.”