Mobile phone calls free from us how far?

Text / story book

According to reports, Beijing Telecom will be for the capital users, the introduction of a 0 threshold, 0 monthly calling card, called iFree card, which does not include any package monthly fee. The source said, iFree card users in Beijing local, call Beijing Telecom mobile phone number and Beijing Telecom fixed number, will be completely free, local calls and caller ID will be free.

0 threshold, 0 monthly rent, rely on traffic and value-added services charges, which seems more like a typical Internet companies play. For China Telecom, which has a smaller user base in the northern market, it is understandable competitive strategy to lower prices, expand subscribers, and conduct radical traffic management. But in the long run, voice charges from charging volume to package charges, and then become an unlimited amount of basic functional fees should be the development direction of the 4G era. And when can be achieved, but also when operators can really believe that traffic can become the main revenue of communications services, give up voice package revenue, is the beginning of a full maturity of traffic management.

So how do we talk to your cellphone for free and how far?

How to Design 3 / 4G Package for Mature Operators

In Japan, traffic accounted for more than 70% revenue ratio, the communications market is very mature. DoCoMo, the market leader, made a bold breakthrough in 4G tariff design, stimulated by year-long price challengers Softbank. Voice tariff package system uses a standardized design, derived voice packages are discounted in the standard package tariff system. DoCoMo officially commercialized LTE on December 24, 2010, with two tariff packages for commercial LTE services: Xi Data Plan Ninen and Xi Data Plan, Xi Data Plan Ninen to sign a two-year contract, and Xi Data Plan Ninen subscribers to pay 4935 Japanese yen can enjoy unlimited package, Xi Data Plan users pay 6405 yen per month can also enjoy unlimited package.

June 10, 2014 DoCoMo's new "unlimited call" package, the new DoCoMo tariff plan called "Kake-hodai & Pake-aeru", users only pay 2700 yen (about 165 yuan) a fixed fee Can be unlimited for a long time and the number of domestic voice calls. The package also allows users to share monthly data traffic with family members or colleagues, allowing users to set data traffic usage. The new package provides users with a monthly fee of 6 stalls, 7 files share data traffic solutions, while enterprise users have 21 files available.

After DoCoMo launched the "wireless calling" package, SoftBank also adopted the same fixed-rate package as DoCoMo, becoming the second operator in Japan to implement fixed-rate voice service after DoCoMo. KDDI will also introduce a similar program to Japan Mobile voice tariffs are entering the fixed-rate era. At the same time, Verizon and AT & T in North America also fixed as the main form as early as the introduction of the meal voice / SMS is not limited to traffic as the key factor in the package.

From the view of the mainstream operator's fee structure, the 4G carriers of international operators basically inherit the structure of 3G packages, taking the fixed form as the main form; and the traffic is the key factor in the package separation and the introduction of unlimited in-room voice / SMS. Among them, voice, SMS, and traffic are the common main elements of 3 / 4G packages. Voice, in-line SMS or unlimited members of family members are the key features of 4G packages. Traffic flows from an unlimited amount of 3G to a limited amount of 4G, and shareability is a significant trend . At the same time, relative to the 3G service tariffs, the overall pricing of LTE services is characterized by high traffic and low price, and as the traffic increases, the tariff per GB decreases.

In China, how far away we are from calling for free

1, the price war further intensified, forcing voice calls free.

In the beginning of the reorganization of the three operators, the price war raged for a while, the call price is indeed pulled down a lot. However, with the alternative threat from the Internet OTT, voice call duration and income are constantly shrinking, in this context, operators are more like Baotuan heating, dare not easily provoke a large-scale price war.

However, with the introduction of virtual operators, the market competition is fiercer. Various virtual operators have introduced special packages. The biggest attraction is the low tariff. If you can have a few virtual operators come to the fore, have a certain user size, and rely on the low-cost advantages continue to impact operators already fragile nerves, once again ignited the passion of price war passion, may force the early days of free voice calls coming soon .

2, operator traffic revenue rose, eventually becoming the main income.

The reason why operators hold clinging to voice revenue, relying on large particles package, package overlay package to retain users, on the one hand is not willing to give up this gold absorption over the years positions, but also because of the traffic revenue is able to take over the voice Business mantle, become the main business income misgivings. With the popularity of 4G network, the user's migration, the development of mobile Internet products, traffic management will usher in the blowout era. Voice calls will also become part of the traffic management, and by that time, operators will have more adequate energy and dare to let go of voice services and put them into the arms of traffic management.

3, the large-scale migration of users to 3 / 4G networks, traffic-based package design become the main election.

At present, no matter how hot the internet is and how much traffic management is involved, the reality is that most users still carry 2G networks. Traffic-based subscriptions are the future but they are not yet mainstream and are not enough to shake the current voice-based packages status. As users migrate on a large scale, they become more aware of the value of traffic and even gradually change the habit of voice calls in the exchange process, which will speed up the free progress of voice.

4, further decline in voice revenue, narrowing the distance between traditional packages and feature fees.

Free voice does not mean that a completely unlimited use, but gradually become a fixed fee for functional fees, different periods of time to consciously guide the user voice calls, 2G network can also increase idle utilization. So when the revenue brought by the traditional voice package is close to the functional fee income, the operators will also be happy to free the voice for an unlimited period of time. After all, this has great benefits for improving user perception, counterattacking OTT products and increasing user viscosity.

What kind of package we will use in the future

Tariff packages will tend to be simple, with traffic as the key element of the package. Tariff packages tend to be unified design orientation, rather than the complex and difficult to distinguish between the 2G / 3G era tariff system. Packages to a small number (dozens or less) of the fixed packages and modular packages mainly to flow as the key interval. Within the system packages complement each other, with limited package options to meet the diverse needs of users.

To fixed tariff structure as the main form, and gradually introduce voice / SMS unlimited. Among them, voice, SMS, and traffic are the common main elements of 3 / 4G packages. Voice, in-line SMS or unlimited members of family members are the key features of 4G packages. Traffic flows from an unlimited amount of 3G to a limited amount of 4G, and shareability is a significant trend . At the same time, relative to the 3G service tariff, 4G pricing should be characterized by high traffic and low price, with the increase of traffic, the rate of decrease per GB.

The introduction of traffic sharing mechanism to achieve multi-terminal sharing. Traffic sharing products, fully meet the home users, multi-terminal Internet users, business users share Internet access needs. Multi-terminal traffic sharing can share the mobile account's traffic to the Pad, PC and other mobile phones; Endless customer traffic, can be shared with other members of the family to achieve one-family sharing of paid households; companies to mobile companies wholesale general traffic or directional Traffic forms a traffic pool. Intra-group employees form a cluster VPN to share traffic pool traffic. Multi-terminal, multi-user traffic sharing can not only improve the flow of data within the package saturation, but also to stimulate more users to use the demand to enhance the scale of traffic.