The "Deposit phone bill and get a free phone" benefit is still available

In August this year, the media widely circulated that "telecom operators' free mobile phones for prepaid phone bills have been cancelled", but now it has been confirmed to be untrue. Not only has it not been cancelled now, it will not be cancelled in the future.

In August this year, many media reported that the "prepaid phone bill free phone" offer was gradually being cancelled, and it was believed that the reason was that the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission required operators to reduce marketing expenses for the next three years.

However, the marketing policy of iPhone 6 by the three major operators starting in October has debunked this rumor, because China Unicom and China Telecom both have a 0 Yuan purchase policy for iPhone 6. For example, China Telecom users can purchase iPhone 6 for 0 Yuan by choosing a 289 Yuan package. This is a typical 0 Yuan purchase.

At China Unicom's "4G Industry Chain High-end Summit" held last week, China Unicom stated that "deposit-fee and free-phone contracts will exist for a long time and will be mainly used in Unicom's own channels and core strategic channels; contract-free phones will become the mainstream product in the development of social channel contracts; at the same time, China Unicom will also launch a business subsidy model for the phased targeted user development of social channels, combined with the air access method, so that business can be easily handled without leaving home."

This shows that depositing money and giving away a phone is the reason for canceling the "prepaying phone bills and giving away a phone" policy. Several operators' relevant persons in charge told reporters that it was because the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission had previously issued a notice requiring operators to continuously reduce marketing expenses in the next three years. Operators can reduce marketing expenses by reducing subsidies for contract phones, reducing marketing gifts of physical products, and reducing advertising and marketing expenses.

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.