China Mobile Hong Kong subscribers can sell unused data capacity

China Mobile Hong Kong has introduced a data exchange platform allowing its subscribers to sell their unused capacity to other users, according to South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The service will be available to customers on the recently launched 4G Pro plan, said China Mobile Hong Kong chairman Tiger Lin Zhenhui. 4G Pro was launched in September and comes in two options, either HK$328 (US$42) a month which includes 1GB of data and 1,800 voice minutes, or HK$428 (US$55) a month for 5GB of data and unlimited local voice calls.

"Many users who subscribe to a 5-gigabyte monthly plan may not use all the data," said Lin, in the report. Customers can trade their excess capacity in units of 1GB, at prices they can choose to set within a range of HK$15 (US$1.93) and HK$60 (US$7.73).

The prices can be adjusted at any time, with the platform automatically searching for the best deal.

Incidently in October, China Mobile was sued by a customer in the Chinese mainland market for not rolling over unused data capacity and talktime. The subscriber had claimed telcos had not stated in service contracts that unused monthly data traffic would be reset, instead of being carried over to the following month.