Can 5G messaging become a moat for operators in the digital economy era?

The completion of the project of "5G Message Payment Technical Specifications" and "5G Message Banking Application Technical Specifications" is a new path to promote the digital transformation of the financial industry and is of strategic significance.

Products are the carriers of information services. Here is a key carrier, 5G messaging.

We are more familiar with SMS. The three most basic functions of enjoying communication services with mobile phones are calls, SMS, and address book. As one of the most important transmission carriers for the flow of information in the digital society, SMS services have written a strong and colorful chapter in the history of mobile communication development. Even today, SMS verification codes are the most common and best-used verification method because of their timeliness and pertinence when triggered individually.

“Without innovation, there is no progress; without tradition, there is no defense.” Business innovation must keep pace with the times, but it does not necessarily mean starting from scratch.

On April 8, 2020, the three major operators jointly released the "5G Message White Paper" in an online release. The "5G Message White Paper" explains the core concept of 5G messages, clarifies the relevant business functions and technical requirements, and puts forward several ideas for the construction of the 5G message ecosystem. The 5G message service is a new upgrade of the terminal's native basic short message service. According to the interaction method, it can be roughly divided into two categories: information interaction between individual users and between enterprises and individual users. 5G messages also support information interaction methods such as encrypted transmission and graphic passwords, which can provide information security and protect user privacy.

From the perspective of enterprise development, when new technologies, new businesses and new models are born and the market supply and demand are unbalanced, there are bonus benefits. When supply and demand are balanced, enterprise development needs an economic moat. The concept of moat was first proposed by Mr. Warren Buffett. It probably refers to the sustainable competitive advantage of an enterprise to resist attacks from competitors - just like a moat protecting a castle. The four major moats are intangible assets, cost advantages, network effects, and migration costs.

The 5G messages developed by the three major operators using one standard can consolidate the existing brand, scale, assets and other achievements. If they can further innovate the operation, management, ecology and other models, it will become a basic moat in the digital economy era.

The biggest role of 5G is to promote the seamless connection and deep integration of people, objects and applications. What are the benefits of 5G messages? The most intuitive feature is that this is an Internet application that does not need to be downloaded. Each application uses a mobile phone number as an account, and the number unifies the accounts of various application systems, which makes it easier to call capabilities between various application systems and interconnect them, breaking application islands and data islands. For users, it is a scene-based digital application and a smooth enjoyment of digital life. 5G messages have improved the efficiency of our connection to the world.

For the operators themselves, 5G messages make mobile text messages a one-stop digital business carrier. From one-way notifications to multiple interactions, each other's capabilities can be opened up more efficiently and mutual empowerment can be achieved. The convenience of 5G messages calling other application capabilities is also greatly improved.

Taking the most common 5G message + mobile authentication as an example, behind it can be derived 5G message + mobile authentication + security + big data + Internet application + rights and interests. Combining security, big data, and rights and interests, 5G message and colorful Internet applications can be linked.

Another example is industry SMS, which provides a visual operation platform and rich configuration templates by sending 5G rich media messages, turning traditional text notification services into rich and colorful real-time human-computer interaction services. It is very suitable for recent epidemic prevention SMS and anti-fraud SMS.

The central government has issued the "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Accelerating the Construction of a National Unified Market". The communications industry must establish a user-centric fundamental point, form consensus and collaboration, and on the one hand, create high-quality information service supply and provide more services for the development of enterprises; on the other hand, it must help the industry upgrade and actively serve the new development pattern.

For example, in terms of government services, the number-taking service, business inquiry and other processes can be made online and convenient for government service windows to cover all people who come to do business; in terms of cultural and tourism services, different types of life scenarios such as ticket purchase, travel, meal ordering, and entertainment can be covered, providing a one-stop closed-loop experience of various life services; in terms of office services, after collaborating with enterprises to configure office applications into 5G messages, employees can quickly complete operations such as office supplies application, production approval, and human resource management through the SMS portal to improve efficiency.

In the digital economy era, products are the carriers that serve the requirements of the national information development strategy. 5G messages are applications and services. For large state-owned enterprises such as China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom, it is not just about competing in the industry. In fact, the key is to fulfill the responsibilities of state-owned enterprises, upgrade the supply of information services, and meet the diverse digital needs of users, so as to go faster and further.