In the field of public opinion, operators are scolded every day, but sometimes they are really self-inflicted.
On a recent public occasion, in response to the problem of insufficient support for 5G messages for mobile terminals, Zhuang Renfeng, deputy general manager of China Mobile Internet Co., Ltd., suggested that the 5G message business function be included in the network access requirements of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Isn't this just plain hooliganism?
It has been more than 10 years since the RCS concept was proposed to the advent of 5G news, why is it that it is still half dead? Why do all mainstream terminal manufacturers not support 5G messaging? Can forced pre-installation really solve the problems faced by 5G messages, and can it be recognized and selected by end users and the industrial chain?
5G News: Imagining Amplified Entry Value?
As we mentioned in the previous article, 5G messaging has nothing to do with 5G, it is an information service system built based on the GSMA RCS UP standard, and through the introduction of MaaP technology, message multimedia, lightweight and interactive can be realized.
The content of 5G message transmission not only includes text, pictures, audio, video, location, contact and other information, but also can provide payment, review, shopping and other rich services, such as ticket purchase, express logistics, hospital registration, coal, electricity, water and gas payment and other applications. The main selling point of 5G news is that it does not need to be downloaded and installed, and it is native to the terminal like SMS. At the same time, 5G news relies on telecom code number system and carrier-grade certification technology, which has the natural advantages of wide service coverage, high reach rate and good credibility.
To put it bluntly, 5G messaging has a very imaginative entrance value and is a super APP. Now such super APP has been very few, WeChat, QQ, Douyin, Taobao, which valuation is more than 100 billion US dollars. This is indeed very envious and hateful to telecom operators. But 5G news clearly does not have the potential to become a super app.
Now the SMS service, whether it is text or rich media, is a simple one-way push service, such as mobile phone verification code, no interaction will not produce too much commercial value; secondly, the telecom code number system behind the 5G message is no longer the carrier of the social chain and the relationship chain, the hair of the relationship chain is no longer there, and the skin of the 5G message cannot be attached; third, the so-called carrier-level authentication technology, what is behind it, is a variety of industry standards, but the process and landing of these standards. Has been completely out of the background of the times, WeChat is based on what standards, Taobao is based on what standards? Relying on standards to do things, in the era of mobile Internet, it is simply impossible to meet the rapidly changing market demand, which is also a common problem of the entire telecommunications industry.
5G news: Why do mainstream terminal manufacturers not support it?
5G messaging is a native application, which requires terminal support. But to this day, there are still only a few terminals that support 5G messaging. Taking the terminals that support China Unicom's 5G messages as an example, only 8 models from the three manufacturers of Youchangxiang, ZTE and Samsung are collected. Whether it is from the perspective of existing terminals or new users, the influence of these manufacturers and models in the domestic market is minimal.
The reason for this situation is not difficult to understand. Because the 5G news has moved the cheese of terminal manufacturers, and operators have completely lost control of the terminal market.
Why? In the profit model of terminal manufacturers, through pre-installed software, application stores and lightweight applications based on terminals, part of the service fee can be charged, and once the 5G messaging business is rolled out, it will inevitably affect its revenue. On the other hand, the terminal market has long been not the 3G era, and operators control everything through collection. With the reduction of subsidies, operators have no upper hand in the game with terminal manufacturers.
Operators feel that this is an upgrade of SMS, sms business model, operators are dominant, certainly will not share money; terminal manufacturers think that 5G news moved their own cake, if you can not get a piece of the pie, can not support, "whose turf who is in charge."
5G Message: Can Mandatory Pre-Installation Really Solve the Problem?
Mainstream terminal manufacturers do not support 5G news, so how to solve the problem of installed capacity? "Incorporate 5G messaging service functions into the requirements for terminal network access detection of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology." This is indeed a very clever idea. Because this means that if you do not natively support 5G messages, you will not be able to get a network access license; if you can't get a network access license, you can't sell it in the domestic market. Tough enough!
But the question is, is it legal and reasonable to do this? In doing so, consumers will be willing to use 5G messages? In this way, the 5G news industry chain can prosper? These issues should be viewed on several levels.
For mobile phones, to clarify which applications are basic functions, it must be mandatory to support; which are non-basic function applications, which can be pre-installed by the terminal manufacturer. It can be roughly divided into three categories: first, telephone, SMS these are mandatory support; second, WeChat, QQ, Taobao and other national applications, that is, not pre-installed, end users will also install themselves; third, ordinary APP to enter the pre-installation, you need to cooperate with terminal manufacturers for business, which is the industry practice and the status quo.
What is 5G messaging and is it SMS? Is it really a text message? Terminal manufacturers can choose to pre-install the traditional SMS function instead of choosing 5G messages, which is completely legal and reasonable. For operators, what is the legal basis for hoping that the competent government departments will make a decision to force pre-installation?
If pre-installation is really mandatory, the terminal support rate can immediately rise. But are consumers really willing to use 5G messaging? Can 5G messaging really provide value that differentiates it from WeChat? At least from the current point of view, operators have not thought clearly about the industrial ecology and business model of 5G news. Taking an operator as an example, it actually launched 300 free routines, which is really out to the extreme!
conclusion:
Regarding whether to incorporate 5G messaging service functions into the terminal network access detection requirements of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, this is a question of industrial benefit distribution, which requires equal communication and game between market participants. (Yue Ming)