Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Editor: Chongjia

Typesetting: autumn

According to tradition, the three major domestic operators release the latest operating data every month, including mobile subscribers, 5G subscribers, broadband subscribers and other core indicators. From which we can see the growth of the operator market, as well as the changes and development in the communications industry. The 5G data can reflect the latest trends in mobile Internet, smart phones and other related industries.

A few days ago, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom all released their operating data for January, which is also the first report card handed over by the three major operators in 2023. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and its agencies have previously released relevant statistics for 2022, for the communications industry, we have been able to have a comprehensive understanding.

The number of 5G package users has reached a new high, and everyone uses 5G mobile phones? As of January 2023, the total number of 5G subscribers announced by China Mobile was 622 million, that of China Telecom was 273 million and that of China Unicom was 216 million, totaling 1.111 billion. Among them, the number of mobile 5G package users increased by 8.469 million, China Telecom increased by 5.03 million, and China Unicom increased by 3.068 million, with a total net increase of 16.567 million.

(Tuyuan Mobile official) We set the time back to a year ago, in January 2022, the total number of 5G package subscribers of Mobile Unicom were 401 million, 196 million and 160 million, respectively, totaling 655 million. In other words, in one year, the total number of 5G package users in China has increased by nearly 500 million, an increase of 70%, and the momentum of development is very rapid. If calculated on the basis of a population of 1.4 billion, it seems that China is only one step away from 5G.

Of course, it is debatable whether the number of 5G subscribers announced by operators is equal to the number of 5G users. The 5G package can be understood as the mobile phone card package with marketing color launched by operators in order to match the 5G concept and technology. This kind of package usually contains more traffic and voice resources than previous 4G packages. Correspondingly, the monthly rent will be higher.

However, the 5G package is not limited to 5G mobile phone users. 4G phones can also use the 5G package, but the hardware is unable to access the 5G network. At the same time, there are still a large number of 5G mobile phone users still using 4G packages, they can also use the 5G network normally, but the Internet speed will be limited.

Therefore, if you want to find a data indicator that is closer to the real situation, it may be "the number of terminals successfully connected to the 5G network". Among all kinds of statistical reports, the one closest to this concept is the number of 5G mobile phone terminal connections, which is usually disclosed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which is the regulatory authority. However, according to public data, the last time the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the number of 5G mobile phone connections was in early 2022, when the figure was 518 million. In addition, according to the 2022 Communications Industry Statistical Bulletin issued by the Operation Monitoring and Coordination Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in January this year, the number of domestic 5G mobile phone users is 561 million.

Compare these two figures with the number of 1.111 billion 5G package subscribers announced by operators, and you can see some of the latter. Operators spare no effort to promote and market 5G packages and continue to encourage users to upgrade 5G packages (with or without 5G terminals), which has indeed achieved good results.

In addition, according to the data released by the Institute of Information and Communications, domestic mobile phone shipments in 2022 were 272 million, of which 214 million 5G phones were shipped, accounting for 78.8%. Since the commercial opening of 5G more than three years ago, the proportion of shipments of 5G mobile phones has remained at a high level and has long become a mainstream product type. At present, 4G mobile phones have been completely marginalized in China, and it is only a matter of time before everyone uses 5G mobile phones.

The number of broadband users continues to grow, and gigabit optical fiber is developing by leaps and bounds. now, the ToC main business of the three major operators, in addition to the field of mobile communications, another large piece is wired broadband. In the early years, the main players in the domestic broadband industry were extremely complicated, and the well-known brands were Telecom, China Unicom, TieTong, Netcom, and so on. If you add secondary broadband providers such as Great Wall and Rambo Wanwei, it will be all the more obvious that a hundred flowers blossom. About a decade ago, the domestic broadband industry ushered in a major consolidation adjustment, basically under the hands of the three major operators, and became an important part of their business.

China Mobile's broadband business started from the acquisition of TieTong, which had a poor reputation in the early days, but developed rapidly relying on the strong economic and technological strength of China Mobile. According to China Mobile's January 2023 operating data, its total number of broadband subscribers has reached 274 million, a net increase of 2.529 million. As for China Telecom, which has always had a good reputation, the total number of broadband users was 181 million, with a net increase of 970000 in January.

(official of Tuyuan Telecom) interestingly, China Unicom no longer publishes individual broadband subscribers since February 2022, replacing it with "big connections" and "cumulative user arrivals". The official explanation for this indicator is:

Cumulative arrivals of "large connection" users = cumulative arrivals of mobile billing users + cumulative arrivals of fixed-line broadband users + cumulative arrivals of fixed-line local telephone users + cumulative arrivals of Internet of things terminal connections + cumulative arrivals of network dedicated line users.

In other words, it is difficult to derive an accurate number of Unicom broadband users from this more general data. Previous data from Unicom showed that the number of broadband subscribers was 95.04 million in 2021, compared with 218 million for Mobile and 170 million for Telecom. Compared with 5G services, the growth of broadband market is relatively slow. According to the Communications Industry Statistics Bulletin 2022, the total number of broadband access users of the three major operators will reach 590 million in 2022, which should soon exceed 600 million.

Although 4G and 5G technology have become extremely popular, compared with mobile communication networks, wired broadband is still a network service with higher quality and cost performance, which plays an indispensable role in our daily work and life. The policy of "increasing speed and reducing fees", which began in 2015, has also had an important impact on the broadband industry.

By the end of 2022, the number of broadband users at 100Mbps and above rates has reached 554 million, accounting for more than 90%. However, the number of users at the rate of 1000Mbps and above has actually reached 91.75 million, a net increase of 57.16 million, an increase of more than 60%. We have also noticed that 2000Mbps broadband has gradually opened up to ordinary users, with fewer restrictions and lower prices. Take Shenzhen Telecom as an example, the monthly rental price of the 2000Mbps 5G integration package is 299 yuan, which is not much more expensive than the 1000Mbps broadband package.

(Tuyuan Shenzhen Telecom official Mall) the popularity of ultra-gigabit broadband will not only directly enhance the network experience, but also have an impact on related fields. For example, the relevant network equipment will gradually complete the transition from gigabit to 2.5Gbps or even 10 gigabit, such as optical cat, router, NAS, PC network card, network cable and so on. Gigabit will no longer be the upper limit. Moreover, the wireless technologies related to WiFi 6 and WiFi 7 will also usher in more room for development because of ultra-gigabit broadband, and the increasing wireless rates and wireless devices have more practical significance.

Of course, for the average user, the broadband industry needs to solve more practical problems than ultra-high speed. For example, on the one hand, the downlink speed of optical fiber broadband advances rapidly, on the other hand, the uplink rate continues to lag behind, and you can even see a strange combination of 2000m downlink + 50m uplink. Today, with the emergence of new forms of media information such as short videos and AR / VR, ordinary people have a greater demand for network upload bandwidth, and it is imperative for wired broadband to improve the uplink speed.

At the same time, operators are more and more keen on bundling in broadband marketing, that is, the cable broadband and mobile phone 5G cards are packaged into a converged package, and the price of single broadband products is greatly reduced or increased in disguise. Operators adopt this sales strategy, nothing more than to improve user stickiness, increase the cost of user exit, but also make 5G user data more beautiful. But for the average user, the right to choose has been weakened.

(Guangzhou Unicom has only 5G convergence options, and clicking on the option to buy broadband separately will indicate that the product has been removed from the shelves.) in addition, compared with the mobile phone package, the content and charges of the broadband package are more opaque. Xiao Lei visited the broadband service section of the official websites of the three major operators and found that the information was opaque, and users were often unable to directly consult the contents and tariff details of different packages. Operators often use the form of telephone return visits after users register their personal information to inform the details. If users want to actively understand specific information, they can only find customer service or go straight to the offline business hall.

With the advent of the high-speed network era, the ideal needs to be reflected in the reality in recent years, 5G, high-speed broadband development speed is amazing, reaching a very high user penetration. Judging from the information released by operators and relevant departments, these data are still growing. Behind the faster and faster Internet speed enjoyed by ordinary users is the rapid laying and continuous investment of communication infrastructure. By the end of 2022, the number of domestic mobile base stations has exceeded 10 million, of which the number of 5G base stations has reached 2.31 million, with an increase of 880000. In terms of broadband, the three major operators have built 4.772 million kilometers of optical cable lines, increasing the number of optical fiber access (FTTH / O) ports by 65.34 million, to a total of more than 1 billion.

The construction and upgrading of network infrastructure is inseparable from a huge amount of capital investment. The fixed asset investment of the three major operators and tower companies reached 419.3 billion yuan in 2022, of which 5G invested 180.3 billion yuan. China Mobile, the most rich and powerful, made a net profit of less than 100 billion in the first three quarters of 2022. Regardless of the cost, China has been ahead of the world in the development of 5G and other fields. In terms of the number of 5G base stations, we account for more than 60% of the world.

(official Tu Yuan Unicom) as ordinary users, we can really feel a smoother Internet experience and better 5G signal coverage. However, it should be admitted that there are still not many new application scenarios in the high-speed network era. For most people, under the 5G network, most of the usage scenarios are still the products of the 4G era, such as short videos and mobile games, and the 5G network has not yet brought about a transformative experience upgrade compared with 4G. At the same time, concepts such as AR and meta-universe are still under discussion and have not yet become the darling of the new era.

In terms of ToB, operators have outlined all kinds of beautiful blueprints, such as smart medicine, smart mines, 5G slices, the Internet of everything, and so on. However, from the perspective of reality, many of these projects can be achieved at a lower cost through traditional broadband, and some still cannot be built into profitable business models. Like Internet of things devices, manufacturers often prefer to choose low-cost GSM / LTE solutions.

In terms of publicity and sales, driven by commercial interests and other factors, some operators sometimes have improper behaviors such as excessive marketing, harassing promotion, opaque information and so on, which are of course in urgent need of correction and improvement.

Of course, no matter which new technology, from the emergence to popularity, and then to the emergence of new application scenarios, have a profound impact on the industry and change, it will take a relatively long process. Operators to promote the upgrading of network facilities and vigorously develop new users are necessary work before the transformation of new technologies. Just like building highways and high-speed railways, it will lay the foundation for economic development and new forms of economy.

From a more optimistic point of view, whether in infrastructure or the number of users, China is in the world's leading level in 5G and high-speed broadband, and we will be able to meet the challenges of the next technological era more leisurely.

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ID:leitech, author: Lei Science and Technology Internet Group

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