September 20, 2007 -- Satellite phones have been provided to 186 remote villages in Qinghai Province, the Qinghai Daily reported on Sept 14. The areas to benefit are Yushu Zang Autonomous Prefecture and Guoluo Zang Autonomous Prefecture. Qinghai has recently been provided with satellite telephone access.

Since the Ministry of Information Industry began its "Access to Telephones Project", Qinghai has invested 640 million yuan to provide telephone access to 3860 out its 4133 administrative villages. At the end of 2006, 299 towns had received Internet access. However, 6.6 percent of villages in the region still have no access to the telephone. These villages are mainly scattered in Qingnan Area, with 90 percent of them located in Yushu and Guoluo. The average altitude of these areas exceeds 3600 meters, and the poor natural conditions hamper the establishment of telecommunication facilities in the region.

In June this year, China Satcom carried out an in-depth survey in Yushu and Guoluo, and made a special satellite phones for these areas. Two phones are provided to each village for free, and calls are charged at the rate of 0.2 yuan per minute for both local and national calls, with the extra charges assumed by China Satcom. No monthly rent is charged on this satellite phone. International calls are also available.