Chinanews client, Beijing, October 14th (Reporter Wu Tao) Recently, it was reported that operators have removed low-cost 4G packages, and that new users joining the network or changing packages for old users can only apply for high-priced 5G packages.
Is it really so?
How should consumers cope with the declining 4G packages?
Hard to find low-cost 4G packages online
Recently, reporters from China News Network respectively inquired in the mobile phone business halls of China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom and found that compared with the past, there are significantly fewer types of 4G packages, and only the "Tencent King Card" is available for monthly rents below 50 yuan. Other Internet packages cost 39 yuan per month.
The 4G packages currently sold by operators are basically concentrated in the two gears of 59 yuan and 79 yuan.
Screenshot
Currently, there are two main types of 4G packages sold by operators on the APP, one is a monthly rent of 59 yuan and the other is a monthly rent of 79 yuan.
The 49 yuan package and 38 yuan package, which were widely used by consumers, disappeared.
On the official website of the operator, although some low-cost 4G packages are on sale.
But it is basically "out of stock" status.
For example, on the official website of China Telecom, it is shown that a package with a monthly rent of 39 yuan is on sale, but as long as you select a specific number segment, it will display "The number that meets your requirements has not been searched yet, please search again", and the number attribution can only be Choose some prefecture-level cities such as "Putian" and "Longyan".
Although many low-cost 4G packages are on sale, they are "out of stock."
Screenshot
That is to say, if a new user enters the network and chooses to apply online, if you do not choose an Internet package such as the "Tencent King Card", the minimum fee is 59 yuan per month.
If you choose a 5G package, it is more expensive. The cheapest 5G package now costs 128 yuan per month if it is not discounted.
4G package changes can still be processed through channels such as telephone
The reporter also called the operator's customer service number. Many operator's customer service said that 4G package users can still change packages, and they are not forced to switch to 5G packages.
China Mobile customer service staff said that old users can still change to the minimum monthly rent package of 8 yuan.
The reporter found that the 8 yuan package has relatively few resources, including 30 minutes of talk, 10MB traffic, and the low-cost package package is more expensive.
The above-mentioned customer service staff of China Mobile also introduced a package of 9 yuan a month, but it costs 0.25 yuan for one minute of out-of-package calls, which is higher than the current 0.15 yuan per minute stipulated in most packages.
Overview of China Mobile's 5G personal packages.
Image source: Screenshot of China Mobile's official website
As for whether new users can still apply for the above-mentioned low-cost 4G packages, the above-mentioned customer service staff said, "The offline business hall shall prevail."
In fact, many users report that it is easy to "upgrade" packages but difficult to "downgrade". For new and old users, operators prefer to recommend high-consumption packages.
In January of this year, there was news that users of China Unicom in Changsha, Hunan were repeatedly blocked from changing the original monthly package to a low-end package.
Then the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stepped in and asked the operator to correct it immediately, and the Hunan Provincial Communications Administration interviewed the relevant person in charge of China Unicom.
"Preferential package is recommended for long-term holding"
Why are the types of 4G packages suddenly reduced?
Independent telecom analyst Fu Liang told a reporter from Chinanews.com that some packages are actually sold online by operators, and users can go to offline business halls to consult; in addition, this is also the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the operator group repeatedly requesting to reduce The result of the package type.
As for the topic of "4G package reduction to make way for 5G" hotly discussed by netizens, Fu Liang believes that there are indeed fewer types of 4G packages, especially ultra-low-priced preferential packages, but this has nothing to do with 5G.
Data map.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yin Liqin
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has repeatedly stated that it requires operators to streamline the number of packages.
Because the number of tariff packages launched by some telecommunications companies is too large, the calculations are relatively complicated, especially in the process of tariff promotion, exaggerating the tariff preference and obscuring the tariff structure and usage conditions, which is not conducive to the clear consumption of users.
On May 21, 2019, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Director of the Information and Communication Development Department Wen Ku once stated at a network speed-up and fee-reduction briefing that the set of packages should be standardized, the number of packages on sale should be reduced by more than 15%, and some early packages should be reduced. , Especially packages that are expensive and have complex rules that affect users’ choices.
"If the user is using a super discount package, especially a package under 30 yuan, then hold it for a long time," Fu Liang suggested. "It is difficult for operators to have similar discounts."
For example, a user told a reporter from Chinanews.com that he was using a package with a monthly rent of only ten yuan, which included 400 minutes of free calls per month and 30GB of national data.
"It can be said to be very good value."
How much is your monthly mobile phone tariff plan?
Is it a discount package?
(Finish)