Why do operators reset the traffic purchased by users at the end of the month?

4G is not yet popular, why have some companies already started developing 5G? What is the significance of the research?

5G, the fifth generation of mobile communication technology, is different from the previous 4G, 3G and 2G. It is a truly converged network to some extent.

Due to the large-scale emergence of smart terminals, many work and life problems have been or will be solved by smart terminals. There are currently 14 billion terminals in the world, and according to market institutions, from 2010 to 2020, global mobile data traffic will increase by more than 200 times, and the number of global links will reach 100 billion. The future development of the Internet of Things requires the support of higher-speed wireless networks, and 5G can be used to achieve large traffic and high-speed data transmission.

Specifically, the next step of 4G development can reach a peak Internet speed of 1G, while 5G can reach a maximum of 10Gbps. This means that in a 5G network environment, an ultra-high-definition movie can be downloaded in 1 second. At the same time, the 5G network not only has a higher transmission rate, but also exhibits the characteristics of low latency, high reliability, and low power consumption during transmission, which can better support IoT applications.

Wireless communication technology is usually updated every 10 years. 3G began to mature and be commercialized in 2000, 4G began to mature and be commercialized in 2010, and now we are researching 5G. It is a regular expectation that it will mature and be commercialized in 2020.

Will 2G networks be phased out in the future? Why should 2G network services be discontinued?

There are currently a large number of 2G users in my country, and in the short term, 2G services will not be stopped. It will take some time and preferential rates for these users to migrate to 3G and 4G. At the same time, the current coverage of 3G and 4G is still insufficient, especially in some remote areas where services other than 2G are not available. From a technical point of view, the current mobile 4G network still needs 2G network support for voice calls. Although we are actively testing to complete all voice and data services through the 4G network, the 2G network will not be stopped until this technology is fully realized.

In the long run, the abolition of 2G networks will be beneficial to operators. After 2G users complete the migration, a part of the frequency band will be released to optimize the 3G and 4G networks. Similarly, after the network is shut down, the equipment will be dismantled, bringing more idle base station physical space to accommodate new equipment, reducing maintenance expenses and optimization costs. From a business perspective, most of the services on the 2G network are voice, while 3G and 4G are the main carriers of mobile Internet. Only by allowing users to migrate to high-speed networks can they use more abundant services.

Judging from the general trend, stopping the construction of new 2G networks will gradually become inevitable, but the coexistence of 2G, 3G and 4G will continue for five years or even longer.

Why haven’t domestic roaming charges been completely abolished?

Roaming charges refer to the fees incurred when using a mobile phone (number) outside the phone's (number's) home country. They can be divided into domestic roaming charges and international roaming charges.

In my country's 3G and 4G networks, packages are the main mode of consumption. Operators often hide roaming fees in the fixed fees of packages, making roaming fees "dead in name only". Compared with 3G and 4G, 2G networks lack sufficient data service revenue support and are more concerned about high-profit roaming fee income. Operators have no motivation to completely cancel them for the time being.

Why do operators reset the traffic purchased by users at the end of the month and not save it for use in the next month?

From the perspective of the operator, first of all, it is not enough to have data traffic for mobile Internet access, but the operator's communication channel must also be used. In other words, what is purchased is the service rather than the ownership. In other words, the use of mobile Internet data traffic is similar to taking a bus, and what is purchased is the right to enjoy the bus service. However, neither the vehicle nor the road belongs to the consumer.

Secondly, from a commercial perspective, telecom service packages are a price discount strategy, and the traffic price in the package is significantly lower than the traffic price under standard billing. From the perspective of agreement and business ethics, the operator's package seems to be impeccable. After all, users get services at a lower price than normal through the package.

However, operators, for their own profit considerations, have not fully considered users in package design. Telecom operators are willing to make packages predictable in design, whether based on cost considerations such as operation and maintenance and billing, so that they can predict the guaranteed package revenue and obtain package overflow revenue - in the mobile Internet era, the overflow revenue of mobile Internet traffic is much higher than that of fixed-line and voice traffic.

In order to reduce the volatility and unpredictability of operations and prevent the risks brought by rising costs and uncontrollable services, operators have chosen to reset user traffic. Developed countries including the UK, the US and Australia have not yet provided similar services without "resetting".

So in the final analysis, the point that users strongly disagree with is that the price of traffic outside the package is much higher than that of the package, and the choice is quite limited when choosing packages of different levels. Therefore, compared with the "secondary contradiction" of whether to reset or not, optimizing the billing mechanism and reducing the inequality of "voice" are the key issues for future development.

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.