China Telecom controls the country's largest fixed-line network and is a relative newcomer to the mobile market, in comparison to giants China Unicom and China mobile.

Depending on the carrier and the handset used, that can mean free-or, at least, much cheaper-calls to landline and mobile phones, as well as free voice and video calls between computers.

As an example, mobile phones have become an important complement and often substitutes for fixed line phones.