Yesterday, China Unicom publicized for the first time concrete details of its dual-mode card that simultaneously supports the GSM and CDMA networks.

The card is currently undergoing internal testing and is expected to come to market later this year. According to Yu Yingtao, deputy marketing director of China Unicom, users will only need to have one mobile phone number to use the card which, when inserted into a GSM mobile phone, connects to Unicom's GSM network and, when in a CDMA phone, uses the CDMA digital service. When the card is used in dual-mode handsets, that one number can roam freely between GSM and CDMA.

The biggest advantage of the card is that it helps users shift to the CDMA network more easily than in the past, while at the same time, since there is only one number, dual-mode mobile phone users do not have to pay call transfer costs. It is likely, however, that the monthly rental fee for the card will be approximately CNY10.