Decoding "Dual 4G": 4G Game between China Unicom and China Mobile

At Lenovo's mobile phone launch conference on August 11, the concept of "dual 4G" was implemented on terminal mobile phones for the first time. Both are 4G, so should we choose China Mobile or China Unicom?

4G has been in commercial use for less than a year, FDD licenses have not been issued, and the number of users is even smaller, but there are many new concepts such as "5-mode 10-frequency", "5-mode 13-frequency", "dual 4G", etc., which makes people confused. Behind these concepts is actually the game between the two major operators. At the beginning of the article, the author also directly stated his position. For ordinary consumers, it is just one word: wait.

Let’s first talk about the five-mode with Chinese characteristics, that is, one chip supports five different communication modes: TD-LTE, FDD-LTE, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA, and GSM. Currently, only Qualcomm can produce this kind of mobile phone chip. It is a solution that spans 2G, 3G, and 4G.

The most noteworthy of these is FDD-LTE. Since the country has not yet officially issued FDD-LTE licenses to China Unicom and China Telecom, this standard cannot be used nationwide (it can be used in some trial cities). However, in the long run, FDD-LTE is the most popular 4G standard in the world. Therefore, in principle, all five-mode mobile phones are eligible for "global roaming". The reason for this is in principle that the frequency points of FDD-LTE have not yet been divided. If something unavoidable happens, such as the frequency band resources being occupied, then the domestic FDD-LTE frequency points are very likely to be inconsistent with the international standards. In this case, we can only laugh.

The 13 frequencies are rather boring to talk about, including GSM 850/900/1800MHz, WCDMA 2100/1900/850MHz, TD-SCDMA 1880-1920/2010-2025, TDD-LTE 1900/2300/2600MHz, FDD-LTE 1800/2600MHz. Looking at these numbers, you may have a question: are the 4G standards of the three major operators compatible? In other words, if I buy a 4G phone at random, can I use the service of whoever I want? Of course not!

In fact, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology divided the TDD frequency bands for the three companies in November last year: China Mobile 1880-1900 MHz, 2320-2370 MHz, 2575-2635 MHz, China Unicom 2300-2320 MHz, 2555-2575 MHz, China Telecom 2370-2390 MHz, 2635-2655 MHz. This means that the TDD mobile phones and networks of the three companies are not universal. This gives each company the opportunity to show its strength. Whoever can be the first to be compatible with the other party's network will have the opportunity to gain the upper hand.

At present, it seems that China Unicom's "dual 4G" seems to be ahead. The so-called dual 4G is TDD+FDD, which will be a 4G model standard promoted by China Unicom in the second half of the year. It is also a customized terminal requirement made by China Unicom based on its own 4G characteristics. On the one hand, China Unicom's TDD license has been gradually rolled out, and on the other hand, FDD has also entered the experimental network stage in 16 cities. In the future, China Unicom's FDD license acquisition is a foregone conclusion. Therefore, the dual 4G mode will be a 4G mobile phone mode promoted by China Unicom for a period of time, and it is also a powerful weapon to compete with China Mobile's 4G.

As we all know, China Mobile proposed the concept of "5 modes and 13 frequencies" in 4G mobile phone customization very early. Although it also covers the dual 4G mode of TDD+FDD, we understand that the FDD standard covered in it cannot cover the frequency of China Unicom's FDD; but on the contrary, the TDD under China Unicom's dual 4G mode can include China Mobile's current TDD frequency. That is to say, many models, including the two dual 4G mobile phones released by Lenovo on August 11, will be able to run on both China Mobile and China Unicom's 4G networks in the future. This is undoubtedly a huge advantage.

At the press conference on August 11, I also communicated with senior executives of China Unicom. As mentioned before, dual 4G will be a feature and main direction of China Unicom in the second half of the year. This dual 4G mode also has the characteristics of global roaming, and the proportion of mid-to-high-end models will increase.

Of course, China Unicom has not completely seized the 4G initiative, because the "5-mode 17-frequency" products have been launched one after another, and this "crossfire" makes it very difficult for users to make a decision. What's more difficult is that unless it is clearly marked with the words "compatible with China Unicom/China Mobile 4G" network, no one will read the parameter table on the back of the box, and even if they read it, they may not understand it. So when 4G is less than an anniversary, when coverage, services and rates are still to be improved, users don't need to rush to choose 4G services, because no one has an absolute advantage.

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.