China Telecom has launched a new program offering a one-year free trial of its satellite service to users of specific smartphone models. The program targets users of Huawei, Honor, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo phones.
According to user reports (via Huawei Central), China Telecom is notifying customers about the offer via SMS. The message reads “Experience satellite calls, free for a whole year!”
The free plan provides users with 2 minutes of complimentary satellite talk time each month. Standard satellite calls on China Telecom normally cost 9 yuan per month.
Users can subscribe to the free 12-month plan by replying to the SMS with a specific code. This will initiate a process to collect user information and activate the service.
Here are the smartphones currently eligible for the free satellite service trial:
- Huawei Pura 70 Ultra
- Huawei Pura 70 Pro+
- Huawei Mate 60 Pro
- Honor Magic 6 Ultimate
- Honor Magic 6 Pro
- Xiaomi 14 Ultra
- OPPO Find X7 Ultra
- Vivo X100 Ultra
The free trial allows users to make or receive calls via satellite in situations with weak or no cellular network coverage.
While the free trial covers voice calls, it’s important to note that text messaging remains a separate service with a monthly fee of 10 yuan. Users who activate the free trial will need to manually cancel the text messaging service if they don’t intend to use it after the trial period ends.
China Telecom launched its direct smartphone-to-satellite service in September 2023. It allows users with compatible phones and a China Telecom SIM card to directly activate satellite features for SMS and voice calls, even without cellular network access.
The standard service comes with a monthly fee of 10 yuan, but users can also choose from tiered packages offering different call minutes. For 200 yuan you get 50 minutes, for 300 yuan gets 100 minutes, and for 500 yuan you can talk 200 minutes via satellite.
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