It has been almost three years since number portability was implemented. Who is the winner among the three major operators?

Since the three major operators in my country occupy the vast majority of the market share, number portability is a "war" between China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. Without attracting new users, the total number of users is basically fixed. If you give up operator A, you will definitely switch to operator B.

So who is the biggest winner in this three-year-long battle of number portability?

Many people have answered this question by actually switching networks. The data on number portability in 2021 has not yet been released. Previously, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a set of data: more than 17 million users have ported their numbers. However, perhaps to avoid increasing public pressure, the three major operators have tacitly not released specific data on number portability.

However, as of February 2021, China Telecom's user growth was 1.78 million, while China Mobile's negative growth was 4.749 million and China Unicom's negative growth was 565,000. From the user growth, we can see some clues. China Telecom's development speed is still good. It is the only one of the three operators with positive growth.

At the same time, we can refer to the data of number portability in 2020. In May, China Telecom had a net inflow of 55,999 users, China Mobile had a net outflow of 38,797 users, and China Unicom had a net outflow of 17,202 users. This data is surprisingly consistent with the user growth trend in 2021. So we have reason to speculate that China Telecom has been the biggest winner in number portability over the past three years. At the same time, China Mobile is in a clear disadvantageous position in the "Three Kingdoms War".

Then we can conclude: China Telecom is sure to win? China Mobile is sure to lose?

In fact, it is not necessarily true. China Mobile has the largest user base. Whether in mountainous areas or on highways, the communication quality of the phone is significantly better, and it has obvious advantages in terms of tariffs and discounts. There are many cases on the Internet where mobile users regret switching to Telecom. In addition, the high procedures and thresholds for switching to China Mobile have deterred many people.

(Some people complained that China Mobile actually charges a "breakup fee" for number portability)

Although China Mobile is more likely to be complained about, China Unicom is still the most "hated" among the three. In particular, the problem of China Unicom's poor signal has almost become a national consensus.

(China Unicom is said to be the last among the three major operators in many aspects)

With the advent of the 5G era, the three operators will face another fierce battle. It can be predicted that whoever wins the 5G crown first will gain more new and old customers, and the number portability war is not over yet. Which one do you think is the best among China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom?