The three major operators have released their user data for June. The data show that China Telecom added a net of 1.89 million subscribers, while China Mobile only added 798,000 subscribers. China Mobile fell behind again because the 5G networks of the two major operators did not Widen the gap, and the 4G network gap is not big.
In the 4G era, China Telecom has vigorously developed, relying on the technical advantages of LTE-FDD, it has caught up with China Mobile in network construction in more than two years, and its 4G network coverage is even better than that of China Mobile. Users in the 4G era quickly narrowed the gap with China Mobile. In those years, China Telecom's annual net increase of users far exceeded that of China Mobile.
Since entering the 5G era, the two major operators have adopted 5G technology, and there is no longer a gap in technology. However, the investment in 5G networks is too large. Due to the short coverage distance of the intermediate frequency band, the distance between 5G base stations is as low as 500 Mi, such a high-density construction of 5G base stations, even the rich and powerful China Mobile can't afford it.
What makes it even more difficult for operators to accept is the subsequent operating costs. China Mobile once announced the electricity bill for the first half of 2020. At that time, China had only built 300,000 5G base stations, which was only equivalent to one-eighth of 4G base stations. The electricity bill has surged by 50%, and the high electricity bill has forced operators to shut down 5G base stations during idle hours.
In order to reduce 5G construction and operator costs, operators thought of the coverage advantages of low-frequency frequency bands. China Mobile joined China Radio and Television and obtained the 700MHz high-quality frequency band of China Radio and Television. In the second half of 2022, China Mobile aggressively invited bids for 480,000 700MHz 5G base stations, and in the first half of this year, it invited bids for another 160,000 700MHz 5G base stations, trying to take advantage of the low-frequency band and catch up with China Telecom in terms of 5G network coverage.
In the case of being unable to maintain its leading advantage over China Telecom in terms of mobile communication services, China Mobile is also actively launching a counterattack in the fixed-line broadband that China Telecom has dominated. The number has exceeded 200 million, far exceeding China Telecom.
It is a pity that in terms of user growth, the cooperation between China Mobile and China Radio and Television has not effectively improved its competitive advantage. China Mobile's monthly net user additions still lag behind China Telecom, although it surpassed China Telecom in one or two months. Telecom, but on the whole, China Telecom is still ahead.
Under the circumstances that it is difficult to widen the gap in 5G services, although the three major operators still maintain high prices for 5G packages on the surface, they are secretly promoting low-cost 5G packages. Low-priced 5G packages, one operator’s 59 yuan 5G package only costs 34 yuan, and another operator provides 5G packages as low as 29 yuan, but these packages are recommended by the operator’s telephone customer service. There can't seem to be any such low-priced packages to be found.
As China Mobile is at a disadvantage in terms of the number of users, in the face of China Telecom's rapid catching up, China Mobile may have to find more ways to maintain its competitive advantage. After all, China Mobile does not want to lose its market position as the largest domestic operator, but the market capacity It is gradually approaching the limit. The number of mobile phone users in China has reached 1.6 billion, which is higher than the total population of China. It is becoming more and more difficult to maintain a leading edge.