Fetion new version was launched on Sunday. Fetion is an instant message software which is developed by China Mobile. It could send free SMS to friends through PC client.
The most significant change that has been made to older version is the cancellation of cellphone binding. The Fetion new version does not need a cellphone number from China Mobile, but an email address. Experts in telecom industry consider Fetion new version to bring more intensive competition in instant message (IM) market and lower price.
Since 2007, subscribers of China Mobile has exceeded 500 million. After Fetion was launched commercially for a year, the subscriber number has surpassed Microsoft MSN and now is just behind Tencent QQ.
Through email address registration, China Mobile could enroll more users, such as China Unicom and China Telecom. But there is a SMS limitation, which might affect users enrollment. Fetion user can only send 3 SMSs per month via PC client to China Mobile’s cellphone number.
In fact, China three main operators plan to create their own instant message (IM) platform. Besides China Mobile’s Fetion, China Telecom has launched brand “Live” which cooperated with Microsoft since June 2009. It achieves users connection between “Live” and MSN. The subscriber number of Live is over 1 million now. Moreover, China Unicom is planning to cooperate with Tencent to launch new QQ platform.
(by Alice He)
