In an effort to cash in on the 80th anniversary of the People's
Liberation Army (PLA), China Unicom, the country's second largest
mobile phone operator, has launched its own military service.
Subscribers will be able to receive military news from the
People's Liberation Army newspaper and download military songs and
movies at a cost of between eight and ten yuan a month, or two yuan
for each clip or track.
Yu Peng, a senior official with China Unicom, was coy when asked
if the service, which has been running for a week, had been in high
demand.
"It is too early to say - we are promoting the channel and
carrying out market research as well as uploading songs, pictures
and movies," he said.
"I believe it will be popular since we have so many military
fans in China. We have more than 300,000 pictures of weapons and
military figures in our database along with clips of hundreds of
movies, such as Battle for Berlin, Normandy Invasion and Shang
Ganling, a movie about the Korean War," he said.
"I guess I will subscribe to the service when more cool stuff,
like the newest jet fighters and nuclear submarines, are added in
the channel," said 28-year-old military nut Yang Yong.
"It's not just about making money. By doing it, we are
celebrating the PLA's 80th anniversary," Yu said, "and, in the
process, providing more healthy content through mobile phones."
(Xinhua News Agency July 31 2007)