China Mobile, the world's largest mobile operator, recently announced that its subscriber base grew to 301 million. The per capita income of the Chinese subscribers is US$1700, no where near the US$44,000 in the United States." Though Chinese subscribers rely on pre-paid phone cards and pay around 80% less than Americans for mobile phone service, their typical investment of $10 per month represents 7% (or more) of their monthly salary. Many Chinese spend a greater percentage of monthly income on pre-paid phone cards than Americans spend on food. This says a lot about the perceived importance of telecommunications in that society.
This is one reason I think that the current ICT market is just a tip of the iceberg as the China market will dictate pricing to the rest of the world in the years to come.
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