A government panel Tuesday urged mobile phone operators to introduce a new fee system by 2010 that clearly separates communications charges from the cost of handsets so consumers know what they're paying for.
Under the current system, cell phones themselves are sold at low prices — sometimes nearly free — because retailers are given hefty sales incentives from the mobile phone operators, which in turn pass on the cost to users in monthly subscription fees.
The system is problematic because subscribers are not clearly notified that they are paying for part of the handset costs in their monthly subscription fees, according to a draft report by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry's mobile business study panel.