China's mobile phone users will have to register using their real names starting next year, according to the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). The new rule will apply not only to new users, but also about 200 million pre-paid cell phone users, Wang Lijian, dean of MII's News Department, said on Sunday. Currently, half of the country's 400 million cell phone users pre-pay for their mobile service provided by China Mobile and China Unicom. And most are not required to register before buying a new phone number. Ministry officials said the real-name registration system would help curb the surging number of mobile phone crimes. Experts say that implementing the real-name system may hit China's mobile telecom operators hard in short term because of fewer new users and increased operational costs. "The operators will suffer a temporary decrease in the number of consumers and short message services (SMS) as people may not like having to provide their ID cards for a phone number," Xu Junqi, vice-dean with the Policy-Making Institute of the Telecommunications Research Centre under MII, said yesterday. "The operators also have to invest a lot in updating their technical facilities and service network." Telecom value-added service providers are also expected to see their profits drop after the new system takes effect. MII experts participating in drafting the new system said that the system has included provisions to protect the privacy of personal information. Public reaction last December was almost evenly split. An online survey conducted by Sohu.com found that 44.9 per cent of 1,911 respondents favoured using ID to set up mobile phone accounts, and 42.1 per cent opposed it. A survey conducted by China Central Television in September 2005 showed that 88 percent of the 12,522 respondents said they had received illegal text messages such as fake notices of winning prizes, pornographic information and ads for fake diplomas and illegal firearms. (China Daily)

据信息产业部消息，我国将从明年起启动手机实名制。 信息产业部新闻处处长王立健上周日说，届时，新手机用户和现有的约2亿名非实名预付费用户都需要进行实名登记。 目前，我国手机用户达4亿之多，其中有一半是中国移动和中国联通的预付费业务用户。大多数预付费用户在二次购号时也不需要进行实名登记。 信息产业部的有关官员说，手机实名制将有助于控制目前不断增长的手机犯罪案件。 专家说，实行手机实名制可能会对我国的通信运营商带来暂时性的冲击，新用户减少和运营成本的增加是其中两个主要因素。 信息产业部下属的通信决策研究院副主任徐俊其（音译）昨天说："实行手机实名制后，人们可能不太情愿用身份证注册手机号，所以通信运营商会暂时面临用户减少和短信用户减少的问题。" "此外，运营商还需要加大投资对目前的技术设备和服务网络进行升级改造。" 手机实名制实施后，电信增值服务运营商也将面临利润减少的压力。 信息产业部参与起草新制度细则的专家们说，手机实名制中还包括保护个人隐私的规定。 去年12月有消息透露我国将实行手机实名制，当时人们对此褒贬不一。搜狐网站所做的一个在线调查发现，在1911个调查对象中，有44.9％的人认为用身份证登记手机号好处多，而42.1％的调查对象对此表示反对。 中央电视台在2005年9月做了一项调查，在12522个调查对象中，有88%的人说他们收到过虚假中奖信息、黄色短信、假学历及非法武器广告等非法短信。 (英语点津姗姗编辑)