In the post-“number portability” era, where will users and operators go?

"Are you planning to transfer your number to another network recently?"

"At present, there is no ..."

When the reporter recently asked friends about their attitudes towards number portability, he found that many people knew about it, but few people were planning to switch networks. The sample size is small and not absolutely referenceable, but it more or less reflects the current situation: people are not as enthusiastic about number portability as the industry expected. In fact, since the issuance of the "Notice of the Ministry of Information Industry on Guaranteeing the Right of Mobile Phone Users to Choose Tariff Plans" in 2006, the term "number portability" has entered the public's field of vision. At that time, most people had great enthusiasm for this budding business. Now 13 years have passed, and when the national "number portability" system has officially been launched, have the positions and attitudes of operators and consumers, who play an important role in it, changed?

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Changes in user communication methods

Farewell to the days when letters from home were worth a fortune, when "number portability" was first proposed, phone calls and text messages were the preferred way to communicate with people. "500 text messages a month were not enough to send, and I couldn't bear to put down the phone even when my ears were burning..." This is a beautiful memory of a generation. At that time, even changing the ringtone of your mobile phone number required careful consideration. For a person, a phone number was not just a string of cold numbers, but an important label attached to him. Even if other operators had a more suitable package for them, people were reluctant to change this string of numbers easily. As a result, dual-SIM dual-standby and even triple-SIM slots in mobile phones were widely accepted by the public and became a major trend in terminal manufacturing.

Today, the online communication function of the mobile Internet has largely replaced traditional communication methods. Using WeChat and video to communicate and exchange feelings, and using text messages to receive verification codes have become a true portrayal of the daily lives of most users. The continued implementation of "raising fees and reducing speeds" has made most people no longer talk about the high costs of operators, and instead focus on the service quality, signal, network speed and coverage of operators. Even the 5G commercial packages announced by the three major operators not long ago have no obvious difference in relative price and the content included in the packages. Therefore, for quite a few users, the need to switch networks is no longer urgent.

Changing roles of operators

At the national "Number Portability" service launch ceremony held on the 27th, it was officially announced that with the concerted efforts of the entire industry, the "Number Portability" service was completed one month ahead of the original target. This also marks a solid step forward for the communications industry towards higher quality and better services. So far, for users, the last shackles of switching operators have also been broken. For operators, the possible loss of users is a problem that cannot be underestimated. At present, the growth of new users of operators has approached the ceiling, and number portability may lead to the redistribution of users between operators. After being urged to remove the "invisible threshold" and improve service quality, operators are not in a passive position. User-centric refined operations must be put on the agenda, and the improvement of comprehensive business capabilities is imminent for operators.

At the same time, operators are not content to just play the role of basic telecommunications providers in users' lives, and are actively exploring a wider range of business coverage. This can be seen from the 2018 financial reports of the three major operators. Although the traditional basic telecommunications business does not contribute enough to revenue, the new business revenue contribution is quite strong. China Telecom's IDC and cloud services continue to increase revenue; China Unicom continues to promote the Internet-based transformation of operations and deepens business cooperation with Internet companies to increase mobile service revenue; China Mobile's Internet of Things continues to make efforts, and Migu Video, Migu Reading and mobile payment businesses continue to receive good news. With the continuous deepening of "number portability", operators are also prompted to continue to work hard in services, products and other aspects. In the face of new opportunities brought by 5G, improving innovation capabilities is also an unchanging truth.

In the post-“number portability” era, what other rigid demands will there be?

At present, the general view of experts is that "the golden age of number portability has passed." Does this mean that this service no longer needs to be further promoted? After investigation, the reporter found that the answer to this question is no. On the contrary, people have more diverse needs and expectations for number portability. Take Beijing, where the reporter is located, as an example. There are many immigrants here. The location of the mobile phone numbers of the "Beijing Drifters" may be their hometown or the location of their university. For these people, changing operators is not a rigid demand. They hope to change the location of the number. Although roaming charges have been cancelled for a long time, they will inevitably encounter some inconveniences when handling services with numbers in other places. If the number can be ported to the location, it will undoubtedly be a practical measure to benefit the people.

Number portability is a people-oriented project with broad social influence and significant social benefits, and is also an important measure to promote fair competition in the information and communication industry. At present, the curtain of number portability has just been officially opened, and it is too early to make any judgment. Operators have shown full sincerity and practical actions, and users' independent choices have also been greatly guaranteed. In the eyes of reporters, number portability is not a secret struggle between operators, but an inevitable result of market development. In the next step, whoever can provide users with more satisfactory services may benefit from this competition between "transferring out" and "transferring in".