China Unicom announced over the weekend that it plans to launch free incoming call services to its Beijing subscribers. The company says it's waiting for the approval from the relevant authorities.

But only contracted users will enjoy the cheap fees. Pre-paid or top-up subscribers are still subject to the 2-way charges. Unicom says the fees are expected to be 10 to 20 percent cheaper than the same service that China Mobile plans to launch next Thursday. The telecom operator says it has texted all its subscribers in Beijing about the upcoming service.