Hi

We're here for six months and China Telecom only wants to do 1 year contracts for Internet connection. That's a bit expensive. Any other companies that do better?

S

You can opt to pay month by month.

Prepaying for a year will get you two free months, and some monthly mobile phone credit. Most Chinese prepay as they can make use of those two benefits.

Month by month, yes, but the contract is still one year. Or did something get lost in translation?

I believe something was lost in the translation as you say...when I pay month to month, it means if I no longer require internet next month, I just cancel and don't pay anymore. No penalties, as I never signed a one year contract.

The one year deal with China Telecom requires full prepayment of 10 months amount (+2 free months = 1 year). So that would mean there is no monthly payment as you have prepaid for a year.

Yes, something did get lost in translation. I was planning on moving and paid month by month before. When I forgot to pay the internet would just quit working. That day I could go down and pay for another month, it was usually on again by the time I got home. There were no late penalties that I can remember.

It doesn't matter that you have a year's contract. You can still pay per month. Think about if you have an employment contract for a year - you can still quit your job if you give notice.

With the internet its the same. They should be able to cancel the contract. If they won't then just don't pay. They'll cut you off. It may (although I don't think they have this level of sophistication) affect your credit rating but if you're only here 6 months why would you care?

While I admit that it crossed my mind, China is not the kind of country I want to mess with. They may not put me in jail, but denying visas is a highly effective way of punishing people.

Quitting your job in such a way is only possible due to labour laws that protect the employee and allow him or her to change at any time. And you still couldn't quit from one day to another.

Anyway the problem has been solved. It was indeed possible to get a monthly connection, however only for 4 or 2 Mbit/s. Not for the 6 Mbps connection, which is for "older customers only". China.