The prime minister supervised, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology made a statement, and the operators followed up, and the wind of "speeding up and reducing fees" for communication services really blew.
Two days before the "5.17" International Telecommunications Day, on the afternoon of May 15, China's three major operators collectively launched speed and fee reductions, of which "fee reduction" alone involved more than 30 items.
However, the new packages and prices launched by the three major operators have been complained by a large number of users, and complaints such as "the price is not low enough" and "the design is unreasonable" are everywhere. In an interview with reporters, telecommunications expert Fu Liang commented that this round of tariff adjustments of the three major operators "mainly sorted out the previous promotional measures." "Although the scope of promotion has been expanded, it is difficult to say that the price has been generally reduced.
This round of tariff adjustment involves fixed broadband and mobile broadband, among which the operator's adjustment of fixed broadband fees is limited to the applicable user base, and mobile data fees are more targeted traffic promotions. In terms of mobile data traffic, which is more concentrated by users, the real "fee reduction" needs to be further formed in the competitive market.
"Fee reduction" turned into "promotion"
Shang Bing, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a regular policy briefing on May 15 that he will strive to reduce the average tariff level of mobile phone traffic and the average bandwidth level of fixed broadband units by about 30% year-on-year by the end of the year. China Mobile and Telecom have accordingly thrown out the "eight major measures" and "ten major measures", and China Unicom has also proposed a number of "fee reduction" measures.
China Mobile expects the comprehensive traffic tariff to drop by more than 35% year-on-year by the end of 2015, China Telecom said it would reduce the price of broadband per Mbps by nearly 40%, and China Unicom also said that it would reduce broadband and mobile network tariffs. However, the beneficiaries of operators' current "fee reduction" policy are still limited.
"In this round of price adjustment, operators pay more attention to the differentiated needs of usersPromotion. Fu Liang commented. For example, China Mobile launched a 10 yuan 1GB data package, but it is mainly for night consumption and holiday consumption, and its 50% reduction of 50 yuan 2GB national traffic is only applicable to 4G data cards; In terms of broadband, Telecom announced that it would reduce the cost of 100 gigabit broadband by more than 30%, from about 3,000 yuan to less than 2,000 yuan, but its 100 gigabit broadband penetration is still limited. China Unicom has generally reduced 20M, 50M and 100M broadband fees, but the number of users with more than 50M needs of Beijing Unicom is actually not large.
"The three major operators are basically targeted discounts for a small number of users, and the tariffs of these users may drop by 30%, or even 50%~70%. If you are not in this part, you will receive fewer discounts. Fu Liang explained.
In fact, in the process of moving from 3G to 4G, the substantial price reduction of operators occurred last year. In 2014, China Mobile's 4G network significantly reduced the unit data traffic cost, and began to generally reduce the unit price of traffic when the package cost remained largely unchanged, and China Telecom and China Unicom followed suit.
Fu Liang believes that operators generally reduce the unit price of products, which is a general trend after the cost pressure drop, but the conditions for operators to launch general price reduction measures are not yet ripe, "A large amount of traffic from China Telecom and China Unicom is still carried through 3G networks and 2G networks, and after a period of time, a large amount of traffic occurs on the 4G network, and there are conditions for price reduction again." ”
An under-competitive market
At present, China Mobile, which has achieved a first-mover advantage, firmly occupies the 4G market. According to the annual report released by China Mobile, its traffic business achieved rapid development last year, of which mobile data traffic consumption increased by 115.1% year-on-year and revenue increased by 42.9% year-on-year, becoming the primary driving force for its revenue growth.
At the same time, voice revenue, which constitutes its main source of revenue, declined year-over-year. From 2013 to the first quarter of this year, China Mobile's average revenue per user (ARPU value) dropped from 67 yuan to the current 59 yuan. The situation of China Telecom and China Unicom is similar to that of China Mobile.
On the other hand, operators face the pressure of SASAC's performance appraisal, and performance determines their salary and promotion, which determines the operator's behavioral choices to a certain extent. Xiang Ligang, president of Feixiang.com, suggested that in order to reduce fees, operators should also be given KPI assessment to reduce the burden.
Another major reason why operators have not reduced tariffs is that a new competitive telecommunications market has not been formed. Fu Liang told reporters that China Mobile currently occupies 90% of the 4G market, and in February this year, China Telecom and China Unicom obtained FDD licenses, and 4G entered a period of rapid development.
"Although the main reason why the cost cannot be reduced lies with the operators, the regulatory authorities also have the responsibility to promote optimization and reform." Fu Liang said.
"Our country'sThe telecom price cap control was proposed many years ago: the traffic fee is still 1KB3 cents in the original 2G period. Why are operators taking the initiative to adjust prices, and the authorities can't use a settlement lever to adjust them?" Fu Liang said. Including on the issue of virtual operators, taking measures to help virtual operators gain competitiveness will also contribute to the formation of a competitive market.
It is expected that by the end of 2015, the traffic will be comprehensiveTariffs will decrease by more than 35% year-on-year, promoting service models such as traffic transfer and non-clearing. It is expected that by the end of 2015, the average access rate of cable broadband will increase from the current 11Mbps to 20Mbps, and the price per unit bandwidth will drop by about 35%, and the average reduction in traffic tariffs is expected to reach about 30% this year.
Reduce the data of mobile users across the networkThe comprehensive unit price of traffic is more than 20%, and the target of 3G/4G mobile broadband network coverage is more than 95% of the population during the year.
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Posted on 5/19/2015 9:29:23 AM
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