Is the slowdown in the growth of China Mobile's 5G package users intentional, or are there other reasons?

In terms of the development of 5G package users, the three major operators have shown a competitive spirit. It should be said that it is precisely under the impetus of this competition that the scale of 5G package users in my country has soared. However, 5G package users are not real 5G users. Those who can really enjoy 5G services can be called 5G users or 5G network users. Therefore, the abnormal operation of only pursuing the development scale of 5G package users needs to be corrected urgently.

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1. The number of 5G package users has exceeded 350 million

The monthly operating reports released by the three major operators show that as of the end of February, the number of 5G package users in my country has exceeded 350 million, and the penetration rate has exceeded 25%. Among them, China Mobile alone has more than 170 million users, China Unicom has 80 million users, and China Telecom has just exceeded 100 million users.

As an important prerequisite for the migration of 5G network users, the three major operators are working hard to develop 5G package users, which is understandable. However, if they only focus on the scale of 5G package users and ignore the development of the number of 5G network users, it would be a bit like missing the forest for the trees.

2. There are only 260 million 5G mobile phone users

Data released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology show that by the end of 2020, there were approximately 170 million 5G mobile phone terminals in my country, and by the end of February 2021, the number had increased to approximately 260 million. It should be noted here that online 5G mobile phone terminals do not necessarily use 5G packages, that is, they may still use 4G packages.

Data released by China Mobile showed that by the end of 2020, it had approximately 110 million 5G mobile phone terminals in operation, and by the end of February 2021, the number was 160 million. Based on these two sets of data, it can be inferred that China Unicom and China Telecom had 60 million and 100 million 5G mobile phone terminals at these two time points, respectively.

Between the 350 million 5G package users and the 260 million 5G mobile phone terminal users, there are about 100 million 4G terminal users using the 5G network. We can only say that the operators are so good at deceiving that so many users pay for 5G usage without being able to enjoy 5G network services.

Although operators are vigorously developing 5G package users, there is an objective theoretical basis for this, but simply grabbing 5G package users not only increases the 4G network load, but also fails to provide users with the services they deserve. In response to this problem, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has clearly required operators to provide 5G service quality.

3. China Mobile’s emergency brake is worth learning

Friends who follow the development of the communications industry should have noticed that since January this year, the growth of China Mobile's 5G package users has shown a clear slowdown. Although some communications industry analysts have begun to criticize China Mobile for this reason, this does not affect China Mobile because its development focus has shifted.

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In addition to being far lower than the monthly growth in the second half of last year, China Mobile's 5G package user growth in the first two months of 2021 is not only far lower than China Telecom, but also much lower than China Unicom, which ranks third. Some communications industry analysts even use China Unicom's successful turnaround to describe China Unicom's sudden rise.

Although China Mobile still has the obvious advantage of the largest number of 5G package users, the sudden brake of China Mobile in this year of 5G development has really confused many users who care about and support China Mobile. Is China Mobile deliberately slowing down, or is there another reason?

In fact, China Mobile is deliberately slowing down its development. This conclusion has been officially confirmed by China Mobile. China Mobile's 2020 financial report clearly stated that China Mobile's 5G network customers will reach 200 million in 2021 (77.67 million at the end of 2020), which is different from the number of 5G package customers announced in the past.

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China Mobile said that 5G applications were not widespread before, so it hoped to promote 5G through 5G packages. However, after two years of network construction and terminal industry chain building, 5G can already exert greater power, so the statistical caliber will be changed to the number of 5G network customers, which not only reflects the actual number of 5G online users, but also meets regulatory requirements.

In addition to making clear major adjustments to the focus of 5G development, China Mobile has also taken concrete actions to further solidify its commitment. China Mobile has not only clarified the configuration requirements for 5G terminals, but has also recently publicly purchased 3.3 million Xiaomi 5G phones to promote the migration of 4G users to real 5G users.

4. It is urgent to return to the original appearance of 5G

Although China Unicom and China Telecom have not yet announced their actual number of 5G users or the scale of 5G network users, data released by China Mobile showed that as of the end of 2020, its 5G network users were 77.67 million, a penetration rate of less than 47% compared to its 165 million 5G package users.

As of the end of 2020, China Unicom and China Telecom had approximately 60 million 5G mobile phone terminals in operation, and as of the end of February 2021, the number was approximately 100 million. Although neither company has disclosed its actual 5G users or 5G network users, according to China Mobile's proportion, the number was approximately 50 million as of the end of February.

In fact, as of the end of February 2021, there were approximately 130 million 5G network users in my country, which is a huge gap compared to the 350 million 5G package users. Regardless of whether those non-5G network users use 5G terminals or not, at least they have not enjoyed real 5G services, but have paid the corresponding fees.

Regardless of whether this is a problem or a big problem in the eyes of operators, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has already made clear its regulatory opinions, which is that while some companies are pursuing economic benefits, they do not pay enough attention to user perception, there are weak links in the management mechanisms of grassroots companies, and their comprehensive service capabilities cannot keep up with the pace of development. Companies are required to continuously improve their 5G service levels.

Under the guidance of the national new infrastructure strategy, the three major operators have invested heavily in building 5G networks, and the results have been remarkable. Now is the time to further leverage the value of 5G networks. Operators should shift and adjust their business priorities in a timely manner and promote 5G application innovation by guiding users to use 5G.