Is WeChat phone book really keeping operators awake?

WeChat Phonebook is a smart communication software recently launched by Tencent, which can make free Internet phone calls. After the launch of this function, industry insiders believed that after losing the dominance of SMS business, the "last bastion" of traditional operators, voice business, will also be eroded. However, in contrast to the excitement of the media, the operators are very calm.

WeChat Phonebook service also has functions such as automatic contact backup, WeChat avatar import, group text messaging, and batch contact deletion, and supports both Android and iOS versions. When downloading and installing the product, users need to bind their mobile phone number and log in to their WeChat account. After activation, they can make free Internet calls by finding contacts who have activated this function.

Strictly speaking, WeChat address book is not truly "free". It only has a free call function and does not incur voice call charges, but it will still consume user data on 2G/3G/4G networks.

It is understood that WeChat Phonebook generates about 300K traffic per minute, which varies from 0.5 to 0.15 cents per minute depending on the billing price of different operators. But it is worth mentioning that it is completely free in a Wi-Fi environment.

In fact, since Tencent launched WeChat in 2011, although it has not completely replaced the operators' SMS business, its impact on the SMS business is obvious and has had a huge impact on the operators' performance.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's "Economic Operation of the Communications Industry in September", from January to September, the national SMS and MMS business volume continued to decline, and SMS revenue fell by 14% year-on-year, a reduction of 6.5 billion yuan in revenue. The proportion of SMS business in telecommunications business revenue also dropped from 5.4% in the same period last year to 4.6%.

Media reports say that after losing the dominance of SMS business, voice business can be regarded as the "last bastion" of traditional operators. Next, if WeChat Phonebook wins user recognition in call experience and is effectively promoted, it will inevitably mean that operators will be "cannibalized" by both SMS and voice.

Compared with the "nervousness" of the media, Chang Xiaobing, Chairman of China Unicom Group, was very calm. "I feel very painful when others OTT me, but I am very happy when I OTT others. It's mutual." At the World Internet Conference held on the 19th, facing the sharp questions from the media, he replied: "A very popular term in our industry is OTT. In this wrestling process, OTT sometimes makes us the protagonist and sometimes makes us the supporting role. But no matter what role we play, mobile Internet is driving rapid changes in all walks of life in society. We all hope that the old order can be broken and the new order can be rationally established. Only in this way can we maintain the new normal of China's economy in a good business environment, and all parties can achieve win-win cooperation."

"The operators are very calm, but the media are very excited." Tencent CEO and Chairman Ma Huateng, who is in the spotlight, said that WeChat Phone Book is a small project of Tencent and will not have much value in the future because operator calls will most likely be free in the end and the value of WeChat Phone Book will be zero.

In response to the new mobile Internet situation, Li Anmin, general manager of China Telecom's innovative business division, believes that traffic can also be charged, depending on how you charge. First, a new traffic profit model can be established. It is not feasible to raise prices for users, so companies that provide applications can be charged. Second, traffic is valuable. Operators are at a lower level than Internet companies. Under the premise of desensitization, the content in the traffic can be analyzed for big data and provided to governments and enterprises.

"There are currently 7.2 billion mobile Internet connections in the world. This 7.2 billion does not mean 7.2 billion people, but almost half of the world's population." Pan Fuai, president of the Global System for Mobile Communications Association, said that sharing these data is to let everyone know that we have a long way to go in the future and we still have a lot to do in the mobile Internet.

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.