2G quietly withdraws from the network, 4G grows steadily, and it is still a bit far to talk about 5G now

The withdrawal of 2G/3G networks is not a new topic, but it has recently attracted people's attention because many users have reported that old children's watches and elderly mobile phones cannot be used. The latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that the withdrawal of 2G networks has not led to the explosion of 5G, but has instead led to the continued high growth of 4G networks that have entered the "end" of their life. From this point of view, it is really a bit far-fetched to talk about 5G now.

2G quietly withdraws from the network, attracting attention

01 Why is it necessary to hide the withdrawal of 2G network?

Today, when 4G networks are highly popular, 2G networks are more like a "public welfare". Although 2G networks have evolved to digital voice transmission technology, they are still mainly based on voice calls and text messages. In today's 4G era, WeChat has replaced calls and text messages, and VoLTE digital voice is popular, and the extremely low utilization rate makes 2G networks a money-losing business.

Although the presence of 2G networks is becoming less and less noticeable, the hasty implementation of 2G network withdrawal will undoubtedly bring about a series of negative effects. First, the signal in some places with poor 4G network coverage will be even worse; secondly, a large number of old communication terminals will become scrap metal, and users will be forced to upgrade; in some extreme cases, users will not be able to dial emergency numbers such as 110, 120, and 119.

This is just like forcing you to take the expressway instead of the free national highway. Although the 2G network is backward, it is an indisputable fact, but maintaining a high coverage rate of the 2G network is undoubtedly a manifestation of the social responsibility of the operators. Unless the tariff, coverage rate and signal strength of the 4G network can reach or even exceed the 2G network, the 2G network still has a meaning to continue to exist.

02 4G network has just come into being

On September 19, 1993, my country's first digital mobile phone communication network was launched in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province. The 2G network has been operating in China for 27 years. From this perspective, today's 4G network has just reached its peak, and it is too early to talk about its elimination. 4G will replace the 2G network and become the foundation of the mobile communication network.

4G has just begun to enter the rural market

According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of the end of August 2020, the total number of mobile phone users of the three major operators reached 1.598 billion, of which 4G users were 1.29 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%. Interestingly, even as 5G networks have been put into commercial use, 4G networks have maintained steady growth for several consecutive months, and it is clear that the withdrawal of 2G networks is having an impact.

Through the above data analysis, the current 4G user penetration rate has reached more than 80%, but we cannot ignore that nearly 20% of users still stay on the low-speed network dominated by 2G. 20% of 1.598 billion is still a huge number. Objectively speaking, the withdrawal of 2G networks and the popularization of 4G have raised the lower limit of social network connections, but it will inevitably sacrifice the vital interests of some users.

03 4G network will still exist for a long time

In the second half of 2020, it is very easy to buy a 5G mobile phone. It is reported that the price of the cheaper 5G mobile phones has fallen below 1,000 yuan, but whether to switch to a 5G package is a very tangled question. In fact, for most people, it is not that they cannot afford it, but is the 5G package really necessary? Is the 4G network speed not enough?

An interesting phenomenon is that the current data from all aspects show that 5G mobile phones and 5G users are growing rapidly, but if you carefully observe the actual situation around you, you will find that not many people actually use 5G networks. Judging from the actual situation of 2G quietly withdrawing from the network and 4G growing rapidly today, 4G may still have a long way to go in the future, and it is still a bit far to talk about 5G now.

It is foreseeable that 4G will replace 2G network and become the most basic mobile network service for a long time in the future. It can not only meet the most basic digital voice and information services, but also most of the life services based on mobile Internet can be realized through 4G network. It is still the same metaphor, 4G is the national highway and 5G is the expressway, which is quite appropriate.

04 It’s still a bit far to talk about 5G now

A recent research report also attracted the attention of the industry, with the European Roundtable for Industry (ERI) noting that the continent is "significantly lagging" in 5G compared to other large industrial regions. Criticisms have pointed out that more than half of the EU member states have not yet provided commercial 5G, and those that have already provided commercial 5G are far behind countries such as South Korea in terms of deployment.

No matter how fast the internet is, it can't beat the speed limit of a certain disk.

When half of the EU member states have not yet realized 5G commercial use, our 5G mobile phones have already reached a price of less than 1,000 yuan. While lamenting such a huge gap, we might as well look at this issue from another angle. Is our 5G network developing too fast? So that the development of the application level is far behind the speed of network and hardware development?

Therefore, if we can calm down and think about it, we will find that the demand for 5G network upgrade is not as urgent as the merchants clamor. At least before the emergence of sufficiently disruptive 5G applications, 4G network is still not outdated. There are many real cases around me, many people have changed their mobile phones that support 5G network, but they are still using 4G packages.

Conclusion:

This is not to pour cold water on 5G, but I have a premonition that the "national highway" and "high-speed" will coexist for a long time in the future. However, the embarrassment of buying a 5G phone with a 4G package is still an unsolved problem. Well, let's wait for the arrival of the 5G application era!