Beware Of 5G Service Charges: Consumer Council

The Consumer Council on Monday urged people to be careful when purchasing 5G mobile services, saying some packages may come with unnecessary monthly expenses.

The council said it compared 85 mobile 5G service plans provided by eight network operators with basic monthly fee ranging from HK$108 to HK$1,228.

Among the surveyed plans, all but one were found to be tied with other value-added services, most of which involve additional charges.

The council said some companies offer extra features like music or video streaming and network security to attract customers, without stating clearly that they are actually paid services.

Nora Tam, chairperson of the council’s research and testing committee, urged customers to think twice before subscribing to a 5G mobile service plan.

“The plans were bundled with other value-added services, or offering gifts and monthly fee rebates to entice customers. Blindly pursuing a plan with large data volume without genuine need could incur unnecessary expense,” she said.

The watchdog called on consumers to think about how much data they really need and scrutinise the service contracts while choosing a 5G service provider.