中國電信運營商將攜手推出融合計費SDK

China's three state-run telecom carriers are not known for their cooperative abilities, be it with each other, with customers or even with partners.

中國三大國有電信運營商從未因爲它們的合作精神出名，無論是運營商彼此之間、它們與用戶甚至是合作伙伴的關係均是如此。

So it comes of something of a surprise that China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. +0.35% is joining up with China Mobile Ltd. +0.29% and in the future possibly China Telecom Corp. CHA +0.41% 岸 to offer a single standardized payment plugin that could be used by the country's many app developers and app stores.

因此，當中國聯合網絡通信（香港）股份有限公司(China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd., 簡稱：中國聯通)與中國移動有限公司(China Mobile Ltd., 簡稱：中國移動)將攜手推出可供中國衆多應用開發者和應用商店使用的融合計費SDK（軟件開發工具包）時，這着實令人感到有些意外。未來中國電信股份有限公司(China Telecom Corp.)也可能加入這一行列。

The two will launch a prototype of the plugin on May 17th, China Unicom Deputy General Manager Shen Zhou told China Real Time earlier this week.

中國聯通沃商店副總經理沈洲上週早些時候對《華爾街日報》“中國實時報”欄目說，雙方將於5月17日推出融合計費SDK樣品。

The rare decision to cooperate comes as all three Chinese telecom operators come under increasing pressure from the rise of smartphone applications, like Tencent's WeChat, that have made traditional telecoms services like voice calls and text messaging obsolete.

中國三大電信運營商這一難得的合作適逢騰訊微信等智能手機應用的崛起給其帶來越來越大的壓力。這些應用令語音通話和文字短信等傳統電信業務顯得過時。

It's also a bid by the China Mobile and China Unicom to beef up their ability to tap into the quickly rising amounts of revenue being generated by consumer spending on mobile applications, in particular games.

這也是中國移動和中國聯通壯大實力以進入收入迅速上升的一個市場的一次嘗試。這一市場的收入來自消費者在移動應用上的支出，其中尤以遊戲爲主。

Currently 60% of users who pay money within applications or for an application make use of payment services run by telecom carriers, according to Mr. Shen. That means users opt either to use top-up cards, which can be purchased at many convenience stores around China, or their phone bill to pay for services on their smartphone.

據沈洲說，目前通過移動應用進行支付或購買移動應用的用戶中有60%是利用電信運營商提供的支付服務。這意味着用戶或是選擇充值卡付費（在中國的很多便利店都能買到），或是把通過智能手機購買的各種服務的費用加到手機話費賬單中。

Originally games were for hardcore gamers, Mr. Shen said, adding but mobile games attract everyone from five- and six-year olds to 70- and 80-year olds. This development brings in new revenue from a new source.

沈洲說，一開始玩遊戲的都是些鐵桿遊戲迷。但手機遊戲吸引了所有人，其中既有五六歲的孩子，也有七八十歲的老人。這一變化帶來了新的收入來源。

Analysts generally agree with the move, pointing out that payment standardization would be a great boon to application developers in China, who currently are forced to integrate a number of different payment platforms into their applications, slowing down the time to market.

分析師普遍肯定這一舉措，指出支付標準化對中國的應用開發者來說是一大利好。開發者目前不得不將衆多不同的支付平臺整合到自己的移動應用中，拖延了程序上市的時間。

This will make it infinitely easier for app developers to get their apps reviewed and approved at once, rather than multiple times, said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based technology research group Marbridge Consulting.

科技研究公司北京邁博瑞諮詢有限公司(Marbridge Consulting)董事總經理納特金(Mark Natkin)說，這將極大方便應用開發者。這樣他們開發的應用只需一次審查、批准就行，無需像以前那樣得好多次。

The deal is also likely to help the telecom companies garner more revenue by cutting out the increasing number of companies that act as middle men between telecoms and content creators, like app developers. These companies, which take a cut in the revenue, make their money by navigating the at times byzantine bureaucratic structures and licensing processes needed to get approval to register for payment with all three of China's major telecoms.

此舉還可能幫助電信運營商獲得更多收入，因爲此舉能夠減少在運營商和內容創造者（比如應用開發者）之間越來越多充當中間人的企業數量。這些充當中間人的企業會在收入中分成，它們賺錢的途徑是打通繁瑣的官僚體系和許可流程。這些手續都是爲獲得中國三大電信運營商支付業務註冊審批所必須的。

The new platform could also make life easier for China Mobile and China Unicom customers an important consideration for a pair of companies that are routinely singled out by Chinese social media users as ranking among the country's most despised state-owned enterprises.

新的平臺也可能讓中國移動和中國聯通的用戶日子好過一些。這兩家公司經常被中國社交媒體用戶直斥爲屬於中國最讓人鄙視的國有企業之列，對它們來說此舉算得上爲用戶考慮的重要行動。

The China market is starting to consolidate, said Bertrand Schmidt, Chief Executive of app research firm App Annie.

應用研究公司App Annie的首席執行長施密特(Bertrand Schmidt)說，中國市場正開始整合。

In terms of distribution channels as well as payment options＃ market gets better, more logical, you can start to connect with one single source of monetization, it's good for everyone, he added.

他還說，在分銷渠道以及支付選擇上……市場變得更好，更有條理，你可以開始連通單一的貨幣化來源，這對所有人都是好事。

Nonetheless, China Unicom's Mr. Shen said the plugin is still is only a prototype and it will take more work to make it a true standard, which means that the operators will continue to discuss options with China Telecom, popular third-party app stores run by Internet companies like Qihoo 360 Technology Co., and other smaller payment providers. Mr. Shen said China Unicom and China Mobile were still in the process of integrating the many companies that provide top-up card services around the country into the payment platform.

不過中國聯通的沈洲說，融合計費SDK仍然只是個雛形，還需要進行更多的工作才能將它打造成真正的標準，這意味着各家運營商將繼續與中國電信、奇虎360科技有限公司(Qihoo 360 Technology Co.)等網絡公司運營的高人氣第三方應用商店以及其他較小的支付服務提供商談判相關選擇。沈洲說，中國聯通和中國移動仍在將衆多在全國各地提供充值卡服務的公司整合到這個支付平臺中。

Mr. Shen, who is in charge of Wo Store, China Unicom's application store, said the store has grown quickly since it was launched earlier this year. In the first quarter, he said the store brought in more than 30 million yuan in revenue and is targeting 200 million to 300 million yuan in revenue for the entire year.

沈洲負責中國聯通的應用商店沃商店。他說，該商店自今年早些時候推出以來增長迅速；第一季度實現收入逾人民幣3,000萬元，全年目標爲2億至3億元。