Technological innovation, which Chinese enterprises lack most, should see no boundaries as long as there is consumer demand.

But in the domestic telecommunication market, such activities time and again fall victim to regulators' interference.

A couple of days after China Unicom, the country's second largest cellular operator, launched its dual-mode GSM/CDMA mobile phone, the Ministry of Information Industry allegedly denied giving approval to a related product, the dual-mode PHS/GSM phone.

The idea of dual-mode phone is really quite simple.

Thanks to the different prices and availability of various networks, a growing number of Chinese consumers have acquired two phones to make use of telecommunication services in the cheapest way.

For consumers' convenience, why can't companies build two phones into one with two different chips?

That is actually what some smart companies have done.

But fate seems to vary so much.

While giving a green light to the dual-mode phones developed for China Unicom's subscribers to make use of both its GSM and CDMA networks, the regulatory authorities have banned sales of the PHS/GSM cross-over phones.

The regulator's calculation is obvious.

The GSM/CDMA phones are OK because they merely enable switch between two mobile phone networks. They may help sharpen the competitive edge of the operators who run both of the networks.

The PHS/GSM phones, however, threaten the mobile communication market as a whole by enabling consumers to switching smoothly and cheaply between a low-cost PHS system based on fixed-line network and a mobile phone network.

To maintain the profitability of the mobile communication market, the Ministry of Information Industry has stepped in to deny some consumers' use of dual-mode PHS/GSM phones while allowing others to enjoy the convenience of similar technological innovation.

Such a practice is not only unfair but is also detrimental to the development of the phone industry.

Fierce competition is the only driving force behind growth in the domestic telecommunications sector.

The original line artificially drawn between the mobile communications and fixed-line markets is largely based on technological differences.

Yet, as technological innovation knocks the door down, regulators should no longer turn a deaf ear to consumer demands for more competitive and effective communications services.

Source: China Daily