Telecom's unlimited data package changes the concept: the network will be disconnected if the data exceeds 100GB

Traffic has always been a key factor restricting the upgrade of user experience in the mobile Internet era. Recently, China Telecom announced the official launch of the Tianyi unlimited package for 199 yuan per month, which provides users with "unlimited" traffic.

It seems that China Telecom has brought people into an era of "unlimited traffic", but in fact this is just a false carnival deliberately created, not truly unlimited traffic.

China Telecom Tianyi unlimited packages have many restrictions, and the network will be disconnected if the monthly traffic exceeds 100G

The Tianyi unlimited package launched by China Telecom this time provides 4G network speed for the first 40GB, and the maximum speed is reduced to 3.1Mbps after the extension; it also includes 3,000 minutes of domestic calls, free incoming calls nationwide, free caller ID, and short/multimedia messages at 0.1 yuan per message.

This seems to achieve the goal of unlimited traffic and can bring endless traffic support to users.

However, China Telecom officials also stated that if the cumulative usage of the package reaches 100GB in a month, the Internet access function will be shut down and restored the next month.

Obviously, China Telecom's unlimited data package is a misleading concept. Unlimited data does not mean super large data, and this so-called dream-level data package is, after all, just a 100GB super large data package.

Real unlimited traffic should not bring users a sense of restriction and pressure on traffic consumption. Telecom has only relaxed the original traffic restrictions to a level that most people cannot reach, but this does not mean that traffic restrictions no longer exist.

On the other hand, if the usage of this telecom package exceeds 40GB, the speed will drop to less than 3.1Mbps, which will send users back to the 3G or even 2G era, seriously affecting the user experience.

Moreover, the unlimited data package is only free for local traffic. If it is used beyond the local scope, the cost of domestic data will be as high as 0.3 yuan/MB, and the cost of voice calls is 0.1 yuan/minute, which has become an unbearable burden on users' data consumption.

Most unlimited data plans in the United States fail due to technical constraints and cannot meet user needs

Looking at the global telecommunications industry, the concept of unlimited data traffic is not a new gimmick. Operators have experimented with it as early as the 2G/3G era, and now there are many companies trying out unlimited data traffic.

For example, the US telecommunications giant Verizon launched an unlimited data plan in early February this year, charging $80 per month to provide users with unlimited traffic support. Customers can configure up to four additional lines for their mobile devices or tablets.

Foreign telecom companies have indeed tried to launch truly unlimited data packages, but they have ultimately failed.

A few years ago, the four major telecom giants in the United States, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, all launched unlimited data plans, but later all terminated such plans. The most fundamental reason was that they were restricted by the technology at the time and the companies were unable to meet the massive demand for data from users.

The foreign telecommunications industry remains wary of pseudo-unlimited traffic.

The Federal Communications Commission of the United States has issued a $100 million fine to telecom operator AT&T because its unlimited data packages were suspected of misleading consumers and severely reducing the data download speed of unlimited data package users. In their view, "consumers should get corresponding services for what they pay for", rather than being restricted, reduced, and only being able to passively use a reduced version of unlimited data.

Domestically, the Ice Cream Package first launched by China Unicom is the forerunner of China Telecom's unlimited package.

China Unicom's Ice Cream Package has two tiers, 398 yuan and 198 yuan. For the 398 yuan tier, if the domestic data traffic reaches 2GB on the day or exceeds 40GB in the month, the speed will be reduced to 3G network speed; for the 198 yuan tier, the first 15GB of the month will provide 4G network speed, after which the speed will be reduced to a maximum of 3Mbps, and the network will also be "disconnected" if the cumulative usage exceeds 100G in the month.

Telecom resources are still scarce, and there are still more people than resources. Unlimited data products will not appear in the 4G era

In fact, truly unlimited data usage is difficult to achieve in the 4G era. The fundamental reason is that telecommunications resources are still scarce, and there are still more people than resources in the face of a huge user base.

On the other hand, the current impossibility of unlimited data traffic is also constrained by the inadequacy of current technical means. A senior industry expert said: "In the 2G era, the bandwidth of a base station was only 2M; the bandwidth of 3G was increased to dozens of megabytes, but the operators had to stop after trying 'unlimited data traffic'; the bandwidth of 4G has reached hundreds of megabytes, but the conditions are still not sufficient."

From the perspective of commercial competition, China Telecom's unlimited data packages are closer to a means of price competition. Data shows that China Mobile has a total of 552 million 4G users, while China Unicom and China Telecom have only 111 million and 108 million users respectively, far behind China Mobile. Therefore, China Telecom's move is nothing more than hoping to attract more consumers through the strategy of small profits but quick turnover.

Although truly unlimited traffic has not yet appeared in China, China Telecom’s so-called unlimited traffic packages still reflect the advancement of technology and pave the way for the arrival of a truly unlimited traffic era.

In fact, as 4G technology rapidly matures, the decline in basic data traffic prices has become an inevitable trend. Coupled with the pressure from the government's "speed up and reduce fees" policy, China Telecom's unlimited data packages have become an inevitable product.

Therefore, China Telecom's Tianyi unlimited data package can fully meet the needs of ordinary mobile phone users, and can also alleviate some of the needs of heavy mobile phone users for ultra-large data. But in the final analysis, it is not a true unlimited data product, but a specific product before the arrival of the 5G era, and can be regarded as a pseudo-unlimited data product before the dawn of the unlimited data era.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.