What are the 42 virtual operator licensed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology?

On December 26th, today, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the first batch of pilot approvals for mobile communication resale business (namely "virtual operator") to 11 private enterprises. The enterprises that obtained the first batch of pilot approvals include Dixintong, bus online Holding Co., Ltd., Tianyin Communication, Zhejiang Lianlian Technology, Leyu, Huaxiang Lianxin, JD.COM, Beiwei Communication, Wanwang Zhicheng, Sharing Online Network Technology, and Telephone World Digital Chain Group, but Gome (Weibo) and Suning, which have been short-listed in the first batch.

It is understood that during the pilot period, approved resale enterprises can purchase mobile communication services from basic telecom operators, repackage the service contents, and carry out mobile communication services including mobile voice services, SMS/MMS services, mobile data services, etc. under their own brands, and make profits from them. In addition, the operator will also cancel the differential pricing restrictions inside and outside the network for resale enterprises.

Zhang Feng, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said recently that the resale business of mobile communication is one of the core contents of opening to private capital in the telecommunications field, which is the focus, hot spot and fastest growing field of the current communications industry. In the long run, the entry of private capital into the field of mobile communication will further stimulate the vitality of market competition, help optimize the market competition pattern, and improve the level of competition and service.

In addition, according to Tencent Technology, Suning, Gome and others missed the first batch, which may be due to incomplete preparation of the materials or the overdue submission of the materials.

Gome told Tencent Technology that Gome had formally submitted the relevant application to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in December, and it is currently under examination and approval. Due to the large number of applicants, the approval of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is progressing normally, and Gome may be among the second batch of lists.

The following are the attitudes of some enterprises compiled by Tencent Technology towards obtaining the virtual operator license:

Dixintong: After obtaining the license, Dixintong's resale business target market positioning focuses on heavy users of mobile phones and small and micro enterprise market customers.

bus online: During the business pilot period, bus online will build a fashionable communication brand for young users, providing users with six smart life services: mobile media, mobile communication, mobile socialization, mobile payment, mobile e-commerce and mobile entertainment.

JD.COM: After obtaining the license, JD.COM will repackage the mobile communication services of the basic operators, and build JD.COM's own telecom services such as voice, SMS, MMS and mobile data packets. JD.COM aims to become the largest virtual operator and the fourth largest communication operator.

Leyu: As the first enterprise in China to set foot in the field of mobile resale, Leyu will focus on developing mobile health services in addition to constantly introducing innovative basic tariff products.

Beiwei Communication: After obtaining the license, the company will consider the traffic resale business, and later will cooperate with operators to launch "WIFI Link".

The following is the information of the first batch of enterprises that have obtained virtual operator licenses compiled by Tencent Technology:

Dixintong: a communication chain retail enterprise that sells mobile communication terminals and provides related services;

bus online: a new media company, whose business covers three major areas: new media, mobile communication and mobile Internet.

Telephone World Digital Chain Group: a mobile phone chain operation group that provides personalized mobile phone products and mobile information services;

north latitude communication: mobile data value-added service operator, integrated software and hardware system product provider in the field of mobile communication, mainly engaged in mobile value-added services;

tianyin communication: integrated mobile phone service provider;

Share Online: The main business is the research and development of Internet search applications;

huaxiang lianxin: providing personalized communication integration solutions, mainly providing service platforms for industry customers;

Lianlian Technology: it mainly provides services such as mobile phone bill recharging, game card ordering and Alipay account recharging;

wanwangzhicheng: an internet application service provider, providing domain name services, basic internet applications, website construction and other services for corporate customers;

JD.COM: E-commerce company, which sells household appliances, digital communication, computers, household department stores, clothing, mother and baby, books, food and other commodities online;

Leyu: Its main business is selling mobile phones and other communication equipment.

Fact +

What is virtual operator?

virtual operator refers to a partner who has formed a cooperative relationship with basic telecom operators (including China Mobile (Weibo), China Unicom (Weibo), China Telecom (Weibo), etc.). Virtual operator leases network lines and other hardware resources of traditional telecom operators through contracts, and provides diversified and personalized telecom services according to market and user needs. To some extent, virtual operator is not only a partner of traditional operators, but also has business competition.

In fact, the domestic model similar to virtual operator has existed for a long time, mostly in the fixed-line broadband field. Second-class broadband operators often seen in daily life, such as Great Wall Broadband, Interworking Broadband and E-home Broadband, can all be called "virtual operator". These companies do not own their own telecom backbone networks, but rent them from China Unicom and China Telecom, but they have the power to set their own prices, thus entering the broadband market.

since p>213, the industry has been talking more about "mobile virtual operator", also known as "mobile communication resale enterprises". They can buy mobile communication service resources from the three major operators, repackage them into their own brands and sell them to end users.

what can mobile virtual operator bring to users?

There are no detailed regulations on the specific business scope of virtual operator in China. From the international general practice, Mobile virtual operator can generally carry out the following businesses for mass users or enterprise users:

Mobile virtual operator can have enterprise patent marks (such as displaying the brand of Mobile virtual operator on the mobile phone screen) and sell SIM cards (national common numbers);

Mobile virtual operator has the right to set the retail price of its business;

Mobile virtual operator can develop internal platforms and value-added services, such as voice mail and short message service.

In addition, from the experience of foreign countries, Mobile virtual operator can build wireless WiFi hotspots in shopping malls, parks, communities and other places, and launch diversified mobile phone packages, which can handle mobile communication services in supermarkets, hypermarkets, the Internet and other places.

In addition, because many enterprises can have the status of "virtual operator" and introduce a competitive mechanism, each company may be able to offer relatively cheap tariff packages and more humanized services. However, judging from the fact that some secondary broadband operators "steal broadband", the quality of mobile networks may become a big challenge for mobile virtual operator, and it needs actual inspection.

what impact does mobile virtual operator have on the telecom market structure?

In the long run, the emergence of virtual operator will help to activate the innovation vitality of the telecom market, urge basic telecom operators to improve their competitiveness, expand the scale of the entire telecom industry, and fulfill the national mission of stimulating domestic demand growth with information consumption.

however, in the short term, the new entrants are limited by the business scale and the right to speak, and may show more cooperation with the basic operators, and the possibility of direct business competition is slim. The real competition situation may be that the three major operators and their respective partners will form a camp against each other. In the initial stage of business development, virtual operator plays more of an agent role, or will become a "prop" for basic operators to compete for users.