China Telecom to cut IP phone call charges

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) - China Telecom said it plans to lower overseas-bound long-distance IP phone call charges by up to 50 pct by March 21, the official Xinhua news agency reported .	    However, charges on long-distance calls within the mainland will remain unchanged, it said.	    In a despatch from Beijing monitored here, Xinhua said charges for calls to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will be cut to 1.5 yuan per minute from 2.5 yuan, while charges for IP phone calls to the U.S. and Canada will be reduced by half to 2.4 yuan per minute.	    Charges for long-distance calls to the UK, France, Italy, Germany, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines will be reduced to 3.6 yuan per minute from 4.8 yuan.	    IP phone calls to other countries or regions will be lowered to 4.6 yuan per minute from 4.8 yuan.	    However, charges for long-distance IP phone calls within the Chinese mainland will remain at the rate of 0.3 yuan per minute, the report said. 

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