Yesterday, Ms. Li reported: I connected to Wi-Fi using my mobile number 189, is this chargeable? I connected to China Telecom’s ChinaNet and they are charging me over 1900 yuan, based on data usage. However, generally, connecting to Wi-Fi with a mobile phone is free, and there was no notification about any charges when I connected.
The reporter verified: Ms. Li, in her 30s, is from Xiaoshan, Zhejiang. Recently, she has been feeling unwell and has been frequently visiting Xiaoshan Hospital. On November 22, while lying in a hospital bed, Ms. Li was bored and played on her phone, connecting to China Telecom’s ChinaNet.
“Around 3 PM, while lying in bed, I used my Telecom phone to search for Wi-Fi. I saw that the ChinaNet signal was strong, so I clicked on it, and it prompted me to log in with my mobile number. I entered my number, and immediately received a password. There was no charge notification.”
“I started browsing the internet. First, I sent a WeChat message to my husband, then I got hooked on a TV series. After watching more than ten episodes downloaded by my husband, I used ChinaNet to watch more than ten more episodes. This series has over 40 episodes, and I watched a total of 24 episodes in the hospital.” Ms. Li said that later her husband took the phone away, and the ChinaNet connection was lost. When her husband returned to the hospital, the phone automatically popped up a login link, but they never logged in again.
On December 3, Ms. Li’s husband received a text message stating that they owed a lot of money due to high data usage. She was shocked. “On Saturday morning, I called to ask, and they said we used over 7 hours, generating 6GB of data, and they want to charge 1044 yuan.”
Ms. Li confirmed that she was connected to Wi-Fi that day because her mobile data was turned off. Is it really necessary to pay for Wi-Fi, and such a high amount? Ms. Li called Telecom customer service at 10000, and the staff said that was the amount, and it was already discounted, only charging 1044 yuan.
Ms. Li sent the reporter her bill showing that the internet and data communication fees for November amounted to 1954.56 yuan, with a discount of -954.56 yuan, making the actual amount due 1000 yuan. Including the monthly basic fee, voice call fees, etc., the total amount due was 1044 yuan.
Ms. Li was very angry: “Isn’t wireless Wi-Fi free? If you are going to charge, you should inform us at the beginning of the connection! Why wait until the bill comes to inform us? Isn’t this deception?”
Yesterday afternoon, the reporter visited the China Telecom service center at Wulin Square in Hangzhou and randomly interviewed several Telecom mobile users. The vast majority had never used ChinaNet and did not know it was a chargeable Wi-Fi service. Only one young man said he had used it two years ago and remembered it well because “it was very expensive.”
Going upstairs, I found a female staff member who said they could reduce Ms. Li’s fees by using a data package. Specifically, 100 yuan for 3GB of data, totaling 220 yuan. Ms. Li was not satisfied with this solution and insisted that it should be charged by time, as Telecom’s time-based billing is much cheaper.
Yesterday afternoon at 4:45 PM, Ms. Li told the reporter that the issue was resolved. “They said I used the internet for a total of 7 hours and consumed 6GB of data. They later agreed to charge me by time, at 3 cents per minute, totaling 12.6 yuan for 7 hours. It has been settled, and the fee has already been deducted.”
Thus, the internet fee went from over 1900 yuan, to 1000 yuan, then to 220 yuan, and finally only charged 12.6 yuan.
How Does China Telecom’s ChinaNet Charge?
Yesterday, the reporter contacted two friends who use Telecom phones, one in Anji and one in Sandun. They said they could not find the ChinaNet signal indoors or outdoors. It was only when they entered the Telecom service center that they found a strong signal.
Upon clicking in, a login link popped up, presenting three login methods: mobile account login, Wi-Fi duration card login, broadband account login. The reporter chose mobile account login, needing to fill in the mobile number first. After entering, a 6-digit login password was sent, and after entering the password, the login was quick. Then, the reporter pressed the home button to return to the main interface, opened the iQIYI app, watched an episode of a TV series, and closed it.
How much data did watching this episode consume, and how much would it cost? The reporter called 10000 to inquire, and the staff said they could not check it at the moment. Throughout the login and use of ChinaNet, there was no notification about data charges or how the fees would be collected.
A staff member opened the very small “Frequently Asked Questions” section on the login page and found a Q&A about whether there are charges, with the answer being yes, there are charges.
This staff member said that using China Telecom’s ChinaNet incurs charges, the system will first deduct any remaining package data from the personal account, and any excess will be charged based on data usage at a rate of 0.3 yuan per MB. This is why Ms. Li incurred over 1900 yuan for using 6GB of data. The staff member advised users not to use ChinaNet lightly.
Not Only China Telecom Has Chargeable Wi-Fi
China Mobile and China Unicom Also Have Chargeable Wi-Fi
Yesterday, the reporter called China Mobile, and the staff said that Mobile currently has two types of chargeable Wi-Fi: CMCC and CMCC-WEB. They are now offering monthly packages such as 5 yuan for 300MB, 10 yuan for 700MB, which are quite cost-effective. However, if you do not subscribe to a monthly package or exceed the package, using these two types of Wi-Fi can be quite expensive—charged at 0.1 yuan per MB.
If your phone has no data, using Mobile’s chargeable Wi-Fi is still cheaper than using cellular data. A 10086 staff member explained that using cellular data costs 0.29 yuan/MB. Like Telecom’s chargeable Wi-Fi, the reporter found that Mobile’s chargeable Wi-Fi signal is also not very good.
Connecting requires entering a mobile number, and a dynamic password will be sent. The difference is that when logging into Mobile’s chargeable Wi-Fi, there will be a charge notification.
As for China Unicom, they have a service called ChinaUnicom, which was previously available, but yesterday the reporter’s Unicom phone could not log in at all. The staff said that this chargeable Wi-Fi service has now been discontinued and cannot be activated anymore.
So why does the reporter’s phone still show ChinaUnicom? The staff said that if the related service was previously activated and there is remaining data, it can still be used. Using Unicom’s cellular data costs 0.3 yuan per MB.
Source: Urban Express
Editor: Tang Manling
