During my recent talk with George, I was surprised to know, for the first time, that most other countries use the receiver pay SMS business model. China is among the few countries in the world where only sender is charged.

IMHO, it is more reasonable for the sender to pay the fee. Otherwise, I may think twice before I send a piece of SMS to others: Is my message important enough for the money my friend has to pay?

Mobile Roaming

Rob asked

I am a foreigner with a China Unicom mobile I bought in Rizhao a city in Shandong, I have now moved to Tai’an. I know that it is a little expensive to call the mobile from Tai’an. If someone in Rizhao calls my mobile and I am in Tai’an is it expensive for them to call me or do I pay the extra ?

Yes. I believe the charging model in China is very diiferent than other countries regarding the roaming use. China News has a great aritle to explain it.

Pre-paid? Billed? Roaming? An Explaination of Mobile Charging Model

From the table II in this article, you can see, for example, if you have a Unicom mobile, you pay 0.36 RMB/minutes to call someone or receive a phone call in Rizha. If you are outside of Rizhao, you pay 0.6 RMB/minutes to call and 0.07 RMB/6 seconds to receive calls. It is more expensive.