Don’t be too eager to “eat meat” with 5G messaging

During the "2021 China International Information and Communication Exhibition", an operator-related person revealed that 5G messages are expected to start trial commercial use in late October or early November, and this news was immediately lost in many industry news. This is very different from the situation when the three major operators jointly released the "5G Message White Paper" in April 2020. At that time, 5G messages were considered to be 5G "killer" applications, and were expected to kill APP, challenge WeChat, and help operators regain the initiative. But who would have thought that a year and a half later, 5G messages are "still holding the lute half-covered", shyly refusing to see people, and no specific application has been implemented so far.

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Why is 5G messaging so difficult to launch? From an objective perspective, it takes time for operators to build 5G messaging platforms, and regulatory policies are not clear. From a subjective perspective, both operators and terminal manufacturers lack confidence in the development of 5G messaging. In other words, no one has figured out who will pay for 5G messaging so far. If this problem is not solved, whoever does it will feel guilty.

At present, my country's 5G network construction has reached a certain scale, with over one million base stations, over 400 million users, and more than 1,600 5G+Industrial Internet application projects. It can be said that the development speed of 5G in the B2B industry is amazing. However, the performance of 5G in the B2C industry is a bit lacking. The highly anticipated 5G news has been delayed again and again, and it is only a trial commercial use.

Can 5G messaging be faster?

Chen Jiachun, a first-level inspector of the Information and Communication Development Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, called on the three major basic operators to launch the trial commercial use of 5G messages in a timely manner at a forum at the "2021 China International Information and Communication Exhibition". It seems that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology hopes that operators can be faster in 5G messaging.

At present, my country's 5G has entered a critical stage of large-scale application. 5G to C needs to have a breakthrough development, and 5G messages should make a difference. In July this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and ten other departments jointly issued the "5G Application "Sailing" Action Plan (2021-2023)", and organized a 5G industry application large-scale development on-site meeting in Dongguan at the end of July to vigorously promote the implementation of 5G to B industry. At present, all regions are very efficient in promoting the development of 5G industry applications. As of the end of September, there were about 190 new 5G projects signed nationwide, with a total contract value of more than 1.2 billion yuan, covering manufacturing, ports, electricity, medical care, culture and tourism and other fields. The 5G to B market is developing so fast, and 5G to C must also speed up its pace to catch up.

Of course, promoting 5G applications is a complex system project. From pilot demonstration to large-scale promotion and then to large-scale application, it requires the joint efforts of "government, industry, academia, research, and application". 5G messaging is no exception. However, compared with the two, the development of 5G messaging is a bit slow and can no longer meet the development requirements of 5G large-scale applications. Therefore, the development of 5G messaging needs to be accelerated.

Judging from the current situation, the development of 5G messages faces two major bottlenecks: one is the terminal; the other is the business model. If these two major problems are not solved, the acceleration of 5G messages is just empty talk. The key to dispelling the wait-and-see attitude of terminal manufacturers lies in the operators. 5G messages must not fall into the vicious circle of "chicken or egg". The unclear business model and revenue prospects of 5G messages are the reasons why terminal manufacturers are hesitant. So, in summary, these two bottleneck problems are actually one problem, that is, how 5G messages make money and how to share money. Now all parties are focusing on how to share money, but ignoring the main problem. This is like a story: Two brothers went hunting and saw wild geese flying in the sky, and they argued about how to eat goose meat. One said it was better to stew it, and the other said it was better to roast it. As a result, the two argued. At this time, others reminded the brothers not to argue, because the wild geese had flown away.

Now the development of 5G messages is also like this "brothers fighting for geese". The industry has been arguing about who will pay for 5G messages, but in fact, they are all discussing the issue from their own perspective. When the SMS service came out, operators were not optimistic and thought it was not a good business, but its subsequent development was beyond everyone's judgment. The SMS service became a "killer" application in the 2G era. 5G messages are called 5G "killer" applications, but in fact they are self-proclaimed by the communications circle and have not been tested by the market. Whether it is a "killer" application should be taken to the market for users to judge. Today, 5G messages are difficult to give birth. First, operators, service providers, and terminal manufacturers are thinking about how to "eat meat" before the "geese" are shot down; second, because the issue of "eating meat" has not been thought through clearly, operators lack confidence, so they have been slow to launch 5G message services.

Therefore, 5G messaging should not be too busy thinking about how to "get the meat", but should be launched first, let users choose, and let the market test. Good applications will inevitably be welcomed by users, and there will be no worries about "getting the meat". Otherwise, no matter how much you think, it will be like the two brothers fighting for the wild geese, and in the end it will be nothing.