I forgot to mention that they even forced me to take a free package...the catch is that the free period is only a month, after which I would be charged $200+ a month on things I'd never use, including some music stations and some PC antivirus software, etc (as seen from my alias, you could guess I use a Mac). I told the guy I didn't want it and he kept saying "we wish you would take our kind offer" (rough translation from Chinese). There was basically no way I could turn it away, short of canceling the service. Sigh!
I used to cover the telecom sector so I have some basic understanding of how the technology works. I think it's almost impossible that they are running out of lines, unless they were grossly incapable when building out their new network and didn't connect the last mile (or kilometer). I might even believe it if they told me they ran out of decoders! So KIA, I think you're right in that it is probably some common-people speak of some other problems!