China Mobile's 2G network will be cleared and the network will be withdrawn? It still needs to continue to "ride the wind and waves"

The three major operators are accelerating the speed of 2G/3G network withdrawal. Under the general trend, China Mobile has finally taken the "first step": Recently, in the internal notice of China Mobile's Planning and Construction Department on the scale of NB-IoT network construction in 2020, it was clearly stated that China Mobile will stop adding new 2G IoT users by the end of 2020, and NB-IoT and 4G Cat1/1bis technologies will take over 2G IoT users. At the same time, in order to speed up the improvement of NB-IoT network coverage, accelerate the transfer of 2G IoT services to NB-IoT networks, and vigorously promote the withdrawal of 2G frequencies and networks and the re-cultivation of 900MHz frequencies, China Mobile will build 118,000 new NB-IoT base stations across the country in 2020, reaching a total of 350,000 base stations.

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It can be said that this is the first time that China Mobile has revealed relevant signals since China Telecom and China Unicom clarified the process of 2G network withdrawal.

From the perspective of the international market, the closure of 2G networks has long been a general consensus. Operators in more than 20 countries and regions, including the United States, Australia, Singapore, and Thailand, have begun to shut down 2G networks in the 4G era, and will accelerate the closure of 2G networks in the 5G era. Zhang Yunyong, general manager of China Unicom's product center, believes that when the mobile communication network is upgraded, it is necessary to strictly control the increase in 2G users and orderly reduce the number of 2G users, help operators continuously reduce operating costs, gradually eliminate backward production capacity, and effectively reduce the burden on operators, so that operators have more energy and resources to focus on promoting the high-quality development of 5G.

Stopping the addition of new IoT users is just a small step towards 2G network withdrawal.

In April this year, the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Notice on Deepening the Comprehensive Development of Mobile Internet of Things", which clearly pointed out that new IoT terminals should no longer use 2G/3G networks, and promote the migration of existing 2G/3G IoT services to NB-IoT/4G (Cat1)/5G networks.

This means that the battle between 2G and NB-IoT/LTE-Cat1 has come to an end. It also means that operators must adapt to the laws of mobile communication technology changes, industry development trends and the requirements for efficient resource utilization, and use NB-IoT and Cat1 to coordinate 2G/3G IoT connections, improve spectrum utilization efficiency, and establish a comprehensive mobile Internet of Things ecosystem with the coordinated development of NB-IoT, 4G (including LTE-Cat1) and 5G.

However, for China Mobile, which has the world's largest IoT connection scale and mainly provides 2G IoT services, it is not easy to stop adding new 2G IoT users and achieve the migration of existing users. It is difficult to determine how much connection there is between "stopping adding new 2G IoT users" and "completely clearing the frequency and withdrawing from the network" and how long it will take.

Ning Yu, a senior expert in the industry, believes that if China Mobile wants to stop developing 2G IoT customers, it needs to work on the supply side and the demand side. On the supply side, it is necessary to improve the operational capabilities of the IoT private network and optimize the collaboration process between the IoT private network and the front-line marketing service departments, especially the support capabilities for localized operations. At the same time, it is necessary to accelerate the coordinated development of 4G and 5G, guide and adjust more existing IoT customers from 2G to 4G, IoT private network and 5G, and reduce the pressure on the 2G network.

On the demand side, we need to improve the standardization of IoT business requirements and develop IoT business scientifically. In the face of customers' personalized needs, sometimes we need to guide customers and sometimes we need to work with ecological partners.

Today, the NB-IoT industry chain is maturing rapidly, and migration costs are decreasing, but new business models are still being explored, and the return on investment is not clear. While building network advantages, China Mobile must also realize network-driven business development, invest resources accurately, and ensure investment returns.

To achieve the goal of "leaving when the work is done", the world's largest 2G network may have to continue to "ride the wind and waves".