Chinese authorities are allowing mobile operators to set tariffs independently in an effort to promote competition and allow market forces to play a greater role, according to Reuters.

Starting at the weekend, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom and the “market” would determine tariff pricing.

“All telecom service tariffs will be regulated by the market, and telecommunications companies can independently draw up specific tariff structures, standards and billing methods,” an MIIT statement said.

The government set pricing bands previously.

Analysts said the change will allow the state-owned operators to address lower income customers in rural areas, where there is significant potential for growth.

The telecoms industry in China has been criticised as inefficient, with recent broader deregulation, such as allowing MVNOs to operate, designed to address this.

China’s first MVNO service was launched last week by Telephone World Digital Group under the T.Mobile brand and using China Telecom’s infrastructure.

A total of 19 domestic companies received MVNO licences last year, 11 of which were announced in January. Among the MVNO licence winners are e-commerce giant Alibaba (through its Net.cn subsidiary) and rival Jingdong. Retailers Suning, JD.com and D.Phone are also MVNO licence holders.

According to earlier proposals put forward by MIIT, the country’s ‘big three’ mobile network operators must each strike at least two reseller agreements and grant network access at “fair prices”.