The top three wireless carriers in China will now rollover their customer’s unused data from month to month, according to a report from China Daily.
According to the report, subscribers of China’s state-run operators China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom will automatically have their leftover data from one month carried over to the next starting tomorrow. Previously, a customer’s data was lost if not used during the corresponding month, a policy that has proved contentious in the past.
The move follows orders from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to the carriers to extend time limits on unused data. The companies have also been asked to provide faster internet speeds at lower prices and reduce their overseas roaming rates.
In a Tuesday regulatory filing, China Mobile expressed concerns that data rollover would negatively impact the company’s earnings and profits, a sentiment that was echoed in the filings from China Unicom and China Telecom.
Cellular data rollover isn’t necessarily a new concept. In December 2014, top four U.S. carrier T-Mobile began offering its Data Stash rollover program. AT&T followed suit in January 2015 with data carryover for its Mobile Share Value customers. Regional U.S. carrier C Spire beat both traditional carriers to the punch when it began offering data rollover in November 2014.
Filed Under: Carriers
