The ministry will initiate two projects to count the economic cost of building, running and maintaining the telecommunication network as well as establishing a national telecommunication monitoring system. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has been entrusted to research the economic cost model for fixed local telephone networks and mobile telephone networks. This will help regulate a standard for cross-network calling fees, users’ calling fee standards and common service fees, according to Zhang.

The ministry will blueprint two regulations that include a quality monitoring and administration regulation for cross-network accessing and communication; a quality index and control regulation for cross-network accessing and communication; amend the clearing standard for cross-network calling fees. Theses regulations are expected to balance the interests of telecommunication enterprises and stabilize the price war in the industry.

The ministry will enhance four effective management systems to coordinate cross-network accessing disputes, improve cross-network communication quality reporting and regular joint conference systems in order to ensure a higher degree of efficiency and transparency in cross-network accessing programs and agreement and establish relevant reporting systems and evidence collecting.

Once under way, the MII expects to solve difficulties of cross-network accessing (after the splitting and restructuring of China Telecom); the cross-network clearance of China Mobile and China Unicom; the short message service between mobile telephone network and fixed local telephone network; calling identity delivery and inter-accessing of the Internet.

(China.org.cn by Alex Xu, April 11, 2003)