Interpretation of the 2020 data of the three major operators: Now you can use 5G with confidence

The three major operators released data for December, with impressive 5G performance

Recently, the three major operators have successively released their operating data reports for December. At this point, the communication operation data for the whole year of 2020 has been fully released.

Let’s take a detailed look at last year’s performance, both looking back at the past and looking forward to the future, so as to better grasp the development context of 2021.

Looking at the specific data:

In terms of the total number of users, the number of China Mobile and China Unicom users has decreased, and only China Telecom has increased. However, overall, the total number of users is decreasing, which also shows that the number of mobile users is gradually saturated and even showing a downward trend.

In 2020, the number of China Mobile users decreased by 8.359 million, China Unicom decreased by 12.664 million, and China Telecom increased by 15.45 million.

Adding all three together, there are approximately 5.573 million users who have "disappeared", probably because dual or multiple card users have cancelled some of their accounts, and some fraudulent accounts have been cleaned up.

In addition, the reason for the uneven increase and decrease is most likely the impact of "number portability". It seems that people were more accepting of China Telecom last year.

However, judging from the number of their respective users, China Mobile is still far ahead with a total number of 941.918 million users, while China Unicom has 306 million users and China Telecom has 351.02 million users, which is still a big difference.

In terms of 4G users, China Mobile and China Unicom have both seen growth, while China Telecom has not disclosed specific data, but it is likely to have also seen growth, because last year the three operators gradually shut down 2G and 3G networks, allowing some users to switch to 4G.

In 2020, China Mobile's 4G users increased by 17.292 million throughout the year, reaching a total of 775.306 million; China Unicom's 4G users increased by 16.415 million throughout the year, reaching a total of 270 million.

For 5G users, the most concerned communication data in 2020 is undoubtedly the development data of 5G, which indicates when we will enter the 5G era.

Data shows that in 2020, the number of China Mobile's 5G users increased by 162.453 million, reaching 165.003 million, which is a huge difference compared to the pitiful 2.55 million at the end of 2019.

It also far exceeded China Mobile's expected target of a net increase of 70 million households in its 2019 annual performance report, with a completion rate of 232%.

China Telecom's net number of 5G users increased by 81.89 million in 2020, reaching 86.5 million, also achieving the previous target of 80 million.

China Unicom is unwilling to disclose the scale of its 5G users, and rarely even discusses this topic in public. However, it jointly builds and shares 5G base stations with China Telecom, so it is likely that the number of its users is not much different from that of China Telecom.

From the numbers, we can also see that China Mobile is still the leader in 5G layout, worthy of its wealth and power. This also means that in the coming 5G era, China Mobile will occupy more market share.

How far has 5G developed in 2020?

It can also be seen from the above data that although China Unicom has not disclosed its own 5G user data, the number of 5G users of China Mobile and China Telecom combined has exceeded 250 million. It is an indisputable fact that my country has become a major 5G user country.

In addition, the expected goals for base station layout, which is the most critical for the development of 5G, were also achieved in 2020.

According to Liu Liehong, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, my country has built the world's largest 5G network, with a total of 718,000 5G base stations built across the country, and coverage of key areas in first- and second-tier cities has basically been completed.

Most of the more than 250 million 5G users and more than 700,000 5G base stations were developed in 2020. This achievement was made despite the continuous raging of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the year. If all goes well in the coming year, I believe we will be able to achieve better results.

Not long ago, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CADI) think tank of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "5G Development 2021 Outlook White Paper", which stated that my country will continue to increase its investment in 5G networks in 2021, which is expected to be 1.5-2 times that of 2020.

The 5G trend is unstoppable. If you have paid attention to the new mobile phones released in 2020, you will know that more than half of the new mobile phones are 5G phones.

In 2020, due to the impact of the epidemic, the market was sluggish, and mobile phone shipments declined. According to a report released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the total shipments of the domestic mobile phone market last year totaled 308 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 20.8%.

Although overall mobile phone shipments have declined, 5G mobile phone shipments have been increasing. A report from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology shows that in December 2020, 5G mobile phone shipments in the domestic market reached 18.20 million units, accounting for 68.4% of mobile phone shipments in the same period.

Even looking at the data for the whole year, in 2020, the cumulative shipments of 5G mobile phones in the domestic market reached 163 million units, accounting for 52.9% of the total shipments. Obviously, 5G mobile phones have gradually replaced 4G mobile phones and become the mainstream mobile phones in the mobile phone market.

At China Mobile's 2020 Global Partner Conference some time ago, China Mobile Vice President Jian Qin also predicted that the proportion of 5G mobile phones will reach 80% in 2021, and the 5G penetration rate in 1,000 yuan phones will exceed 90% by the end of 2021.

You can use the 5G network without upgrading to a 5G package

The shipment volume of 5G mobile phones continues to rise, but because 5G packages are still expensive, many people have not activated 5G packages and still use 4G networks.

But this would be a bit of a waste. Buying a 5G mobile phone but not using the 5G network would be a bit disgusting. Moreover, this would not be conducive to the popularization of 5G mobile phones.

In response to this situation, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology simply announced that as long as it is a 5G mobile phone, even a 4G package can use the 5G network. You must know that the three major operators have previously stated that if you want to use 5G traffic, you must change the package. Now you can only accept it silently. The arm is still no match for the thigh.

Of course, you must be in an area covered by the 5G network and be able to search for 5G signals to use the 5G network, and the traffic charges generated by Internet access will still be deducted from the 4G package. However, because 5G will be much faster, there may be a situation where there is not enough traffic, so you still have to pay attention to this.

In addition, although you can use 5G network, the speed will be limited to 300Mbps, which is the maximum speed of 4G network. Even so, it is basically 3 to 10 times the speed of ordinary 4G network, which is completely sufficient for use, whether it is playing games or downloading things, so there is no need to switch to a 5G package for the time being.

However, if you want to experience the real 5G speed, you still have to upgrade to the 5G package. After all, using the 5G network for the 4G package is just a shortcut, and you also don’t want the 5G base stations to be idle. So if you have money, it is better to upgrade to the 5G package.

There is still much debate about the 5G network. Some people still think that 5G is useless. However, judging from the current development trend, 5G is undoubtedly an important plan for the country's future. It will not be a useless effort. It will not be wrong to follow the country.

It is predicted that 2020 will be the first year of 5G, and it will start to move forward steadily. In 2021, all cities in the country will be basically covered by 5G networks. In 2022, 5G construction in towns and remote areas will be gradually improved. In 2023, the laying of 5G networks will be basically completed, and by 2024 it will be mature, which will take about 5 years.

This is basically the same as the progress of the 4G network. China Mobile started trialing the 4G network in 2013, and it took four years to complete the laying of the network and it became mature. Today's 5G is actually just a repetition of the process.

We look forward to 5G bringing us a better life!