In 2022, the 5G industry is still in full swing. 5G technology will continue to profoundly change our life and production, and affect all aspects of social and economic development.

Looking back on the past year, the 5G industry has both highlights and doubts.

The 5G network has basically covered the whole country. As of the end of November 2022, a total of 22.587 million 5G base stations have been built and opened in China . On the basis of realizing the coverage of all cities above the prefecture level in the country, the 5G network has further extended its coverage to all counties, urban areas and key towns and towns in the country. “County and county pass”.

“5G+” is very popular. 5G technology continues to change production and life. New applications such as “5G + smart factory”, “5G + digital farm”, “5G + smart port”, “5G + full sports”, “5G + e-sports” have been implemented in all walks of life and all aspects of life, bringing new 5G new experience.

The market structure is stable and improving. As of the end of November 2022, the three operators of China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom have 542 million 5G mobile phone users, a net increase of 187 million from the end of the previous year, accounting for 32.2% of mobile phone users. In addition, China Radio and Television also officially launched 5G network services this year, becoming the fourth largest communication operator, bringing new blood to 5G commercial use.

From November 1, 2019, this year has been the third year of large-scale commercial use of 5G. The infrastructure is constantly improving, and “5G+” related applications continue to be popular. The market is still hot, but compared with it, most common Users do not seem to feel the 5G network so enthusiastically. On the contrary, they are still stuck in the perception that the 5G package tariff is too high.

Stopping 5G has become a real embarrassment for ordinary users.

One technology, two attitudes

On the one hand, “5G+” has frequently gone out of the circle and become popular. The reason is not difficult to understand. As the fifth-generation mobile communication network, 5G has a peak theoretical transmission speed of up to 1Gb per second, which is hundreds of times faster than the transmission speed of 4G networks.

This outstanding performance can bring about a qualitative leap in all walks of life.

Take 5G+Industrial Internet as an example.

5G’s enhanced mobile bandwidth, low latency and high reliability communication can effectively solve the problems of industrial wired technology such as poor mobility, inflexible networking, and difficulties in laying in special environments, and break through the existing industrial wireless technology in terms of reliability, connection density, and transmission. Capability and other limitations, effectively meet the needs of industrial production such as large-scale data collection and perception, precise control, and remote control, and meet some industrial sensitive areas or high-risk scenarios such as remote operations or unmanned operations such as mines, construction sites, and oil wells need.

From a purely technical point of view, it is difficult for 5G not to be popular, and it is also difficult not to be unpopular. But once it comes to the commercial payment link, 5G can’t just look at the technical theory.

On the other hand, although 5G mobile phones are currently very common, according to data released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, from January to October 2022, the total mobile phone shipments in the Chinese market totaled 220 million units, of which 5G mobile phone shipments were 1.5 million units. 7.3 billion units, accounting for 78.4% of the mobile phone shipments in the same period, basically becoming the mainstream of new mobile phone shipments. However, 5G networks have not been popularized for a long time.

A reader once told the author that although he bought a 5G mobile phone very early, the 5G package is much more expensive than the 4G package he is using now, so he still dare not upgrade the package, so he has to use the 5G mobile phone as 4G.

Perhaps it is for this reason that in China, 5G mobile phones are often popularized very well, but the popularization of 5G networks is always almost impossible.

Unaffordable 5G packages: cheaper than foreign countries, more expensive than users’ psychological expectations

In all fairness, are domestic 5G packages really expensive?

This may have to be compared.

If you compare foreign 5G packages, domestic tariffs are definitely cheaper.

The three mobile operators in South Korea have basically determined the 5G package standard when the 5G commercial use just started, and the minimum starting price is 55,000 won (about 302 yuan). Then, last year, in order to further rob users, the three major operators in South Korea started a price war. LG U+ launched a 5G package with 47,000 won (about 258 yuan) monthly rent and 6GB traffic, while KT launched I paid 45,000 won (approximately RMB 247) for a monthly rent and a 5G package with 5GB of traffic. Although the price has been reduced, it is still relatively expensive overall and the price/performance ratio is not high.

The US ones are relatively cheap. The initial package fee in the United States is about 480 yuan, and you can enjoy 15GB of traffic, but you need to purchase an additional 5G hotspot device that costs US$499. Until this year, the United States also began to cut prices. The US operator Verizon launched a 5G entry-level “unlimited” package, which costs $30 (about 208 yuan) per month per line. Although it is an “unlimited” package, the package does not provide high-speed traffic, and the speed will be reduced during the network congestion period, and the price/performance ratio is average.

In contrast, foreign 5G packages such as the United States and South Korea generally have high tariffs and average cost performance. Although they are already in the stage of price reduction, they still do not give users too much profit. Domestic 5G packages generally start at around 100 yuan. Fees are much more favorable.

However, if you compare the psychological expectations of domestic users, it is likely to be expensive.

You must know that the psychologically expected price of many users is actually the 4G package fee. The 4G network has been popularized for many years, and its package tariffs are already quite cheap. The lowest is generally 38 yuan, which is basically maintained at double digits.

As far as the domestic situation is concerned, if 5G wants to be further popularized, it is not enough to have a discount compared to foreign countries. The key is that the price must meet the psychological expectations of users and stimulate users to increase their willingness to pay.

Radio and television 5G, hit the price on the user’s psychological expectations

At present, domestic 5G package tariffs have shown a tendency to meet users’ psychological expectations.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology previously instructed that within two years, communication operators can achieve a 46% reduction in 5G package tariffs, which is equivalent to 4.4 yuan for 1GB of 5G traffic.

As of today, the 5G package tariff has indeed reached this goal, or even lower.

Take China Radio and Television as an example. At present, China Radio and Television’s “5G Wonderful Package” charges 88 yuan per month at the lowest level, enjoying 30G domestic traffic and 100 minutes of domestic calls. The network entry threshold is the lowest among the current four major operators. After careful calculation, in the package of China Radio and Television, the cost of 1GB of 5G traffic is about 2.93 yuan.

However, there is still room for further decline in this price.

Recently, China Radio and Television has also launched a Chinese New Year theme event of “Futu Rabbit Accompanying Radio and Television to Add Color”, intending to continue to reduce 5G tariffs in 2023.

But as we all know, simple and crude price wars hurt others and themselves for operators, and must be rationally allocated. Therefore, we have seen that China Radio and Television has spent a lot of thought on setting discounts.

For example, China Radio and Television continued the 5G 40% discount activity in the New Year, that is, all users who apply for the “Wonderful” package and “5G Wonderful Package” before March 31, 2023, and promise to use the Internet for more than 12 months, can enjoy a 40% discount . The lowest-tier package only costs 23 yuan to “get on the bus”, and outside the package, the traffic per GB is only 3 yuan, which is already quite cheap. Based on the price during the contract period, this is also more helpful China Radio and Television has stabilized users.

At the same time, considering that during the Spring Festival, users’ demand for traffic and voice has increased significantly, China Radio and Television will also give away 30-200 minutes of voice time per month and traffic starting from 5GB. In addition, in order to further promote its value-added services, China Radio and Television also launched a 0 yuan experience video ring tone and communication assistant activities. All these allow users to further feel the benefits on the basis of the 40% discount on the contract.

In recent years, the success of China Unicom King Card, Mobile Migu Card and other joint products with audio-visual APPs has also given China Radio and Television new ideas. Therefore, the latter also launched a 40% discount on Mango TV during the event, which will further increase the user experience. Favorability.

There are discounts, gifts, and joint names. A series of combination punches make users deeply feel that the price of 5G is dropping. When users’ psychological expectations are met, the next step is how to consolidate users’ psychological cognition. , This also tests the ability of China Radio and Television to operate in the later stage.

Of course, if the long-term welfare activities of China Radio and Television can drive the common discounts of the other three major operators, perhaps the price of 5G can be further “beaten”.

Under the joint guidance of the whole industry, the high price perception of 5G packages can also be further dispelled in the minds of users.

By then, the large-scale popularization of 5G will not be a problem.

After all, 5G mobile phones are already quite popular, and some related 5G scenarios have been explored. Now everything is ready, and we only owe Dongfeng. Once the 5G package tariff can fully meet the psychological expectations of users, then the large-scale commercial use of 5G will enter the next explosive stage .

epilogue

“5G+” is sought after, which is enough to witness some significant experiences of 5G technology in current applications, and is favored by users.

However, 5G has not been popularized on a large scale for a long time, and the problem is also highlighted.

Since June 2022, China Radio and Television has entered the 5G commercial field, and has been committed to promoting 5G with price and service advantages. The 700MHz spectrum resources it has obtained have always been known as the “golden frequency band” of 5G networks. , has the advantages of wide signal coverage, strong diffraction ability, and low transmission loss. The overall cost of network construction and networking is lower under the same range. 450,000 to 500,000 base stations can cover the whole country, and the sinking of 5G networks It plays a very critical role in second- and third-tier cities and county areas.

At the same time, from the perspective of welfare activities, China Radio and Television is also constantly giving benefits to users, such as extending the 40% off welfare activities to the new year. With this move, there is a high probability that users can further understand the acceptance of 5G package tariffs, so that the 5G package tariff standards can be established, forming a price range that ordinary users are willing to pay and communication operators can also accept.

So, from here, 5G may really start to gain popularity.