Comments: Operators with iphone bundled users and policy conflicts

"Http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/28200.html" > Mobile phone Machine Customization management measures stipulates that "the custom phone can not lock the network, should allow consumers to choose other telecommunications operators to provide the same network services, and to achieve basic communication functions. In Monday, China Unicom said there were some cases of malicious unpacking after China Unicom's iphone 4 contract, a sale of the iphone 4 at a high price and a low-cost Sell-off of phone cards. In response to such acts, Unicom has the right to freeze deposits in the contract plan. (according to the Beijing News November 23)

Although in the United States, Japan, Europe and other countries and regions, Apple's contract operators, such as at&t and soft silver, etc., also through software encryption and other ways to prevent the iphone card separation, but in our country, the Ministry of Industry and Information technology and other departments of the binding user behavior is expressly prohibited. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued in April 2010, "Mobile Phone machine Customization management measures", the second chapter of the 11th article, "The custom phone can not lock the network, should allow consumers to choose other telecom operators to provide the same standard network services, and to achieve basic communication functions." In other words, iphone contract users have the right to use both China Unicom and Chinese mobile GSM networks. Because IPhone4 not only supports China Unicom's WCDMA, but also supports GSM, China Unicom has no right to lock these users in its own WCDMA or GSM network.

For bespoke handsets such as the iphone, contract-planning users are spending money ahead of time, and when they get their phones, they have prepaid some of their spending for the next two years. Although there are terms in the contract for users to bundle the iphone with the SIM card allotted by China Unicom, the contract itself is in conflict with the relevant provisions of the "mobile Phone customization Management scheme" of the competent authorities and therefore is an invalid agreement.

To step back, even if the user defaults, according to the contract plan, China Unicom can only buy a certain amount of time after the purchase will not be able to start the return of prepaid charges, but not the right to freeze the user's advance at any time. Moreover, "freeze charges" can not be decided by China Unicom alone, should be a custom mobile phone regulator of the Ministry of Industry and Information technology to participate in regulation.

To "freeze the bill" as a means to force the user "card one", not only conflict with the relevant documents, but also with the current Hainan, Tianjin, such as the pilot "carrying a network" and other policies have conflicts. If China Unicom opened a bundle of custom mobile phone users of the precedent, domestic operators have to follow the example, the choice of mobile phone users will exist, the domestic operating market orderly, effective competition will be carried out?

-Li Zhenhao (Beijing Media Practitioner), Peking News