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Smartphones and charging treasures have become the standard for people who go out to play. However, with the increase in the number of outbound tourists and the seriousness of "network dependence", many people have a small partner commonly known as "egg" in their portable electronic devices. This kind of equipment, which can provide wireless Internet service anytime and anywhere abroad, has brought new business opportunities with its popularity.
With the change of communication methods between people, the use of network communication tools such as WeChat and WhatsApp has become frequent and intensive. The birth of SNS platforms such as Weibo, friends circle and Instagram has also increased people's dependence on the network. Sina Weibo's hot topic "Traveling in Weibo" can be popular on the premise that you can surf the Internet anytime and anywhere when traveling abroad and share what you see and hear in time. Based on this demand, a low-cost and portable wireless Wi-Fi came into being. It is smaller than a mobile phone and cute in shape, so some people abroad call this device "egg".
There is a great demand for overseas Wi-Fi.
In the lobby of foreign hotels, we often see such a scene: a group of people are standing or sitting in the lobby, most of them are holding mobile phones or tablets in their hands, and their fingers are pointing down and flipping through the Internet. Because many hotels provide free Wi-Fi for their guests in the lobby, while some high-end hotels charge internet access fees only after entering the room. Of course, such scenes exist not only in hotel lobbies, but also in cafes, restaurants and some shopping malls. In this regard, China people also specially named this behavior "surfing the Internet".
In China, the popularity of 3G networks and the downward adjustment of 4G tariffs make the cost of mobile Internet access close to the people. However, the data roaming fees of foreign operators are too expensive. If you charge according to the flow, whether it is China Mobile, China Unicom or China Telecom, ordinary users can easily spend 100 yuan if they continue to maintain the domestic online frequency. So "do you have Wi-fi"? Become the first question for tourists from all over the world.
However, in areas where the communication industry is relatively developed, such as South Korea, which is famous for its ultra-fast network speed and wide coverage, there are not free Wi-Fi networks everywhere. Therefore, portable Wi-Fi has formed a huge market potential, and some enterprises have begun to aim at it and seriously regard overseas Wi-Fi as a big business.
How big is the market demand? According to the statistical data given by china tourism academy, the number of domestic outbound tourists will reach 1. 1.4 billion this year, with a year-on-year increase of 1.6%. According to Ctrip's 20 14 Free Wi-Fi Survey Report on Outbound Travel in China. More than 90% of the respondents believe that free Wi-Fi is an indispensable service in the travel itinerary. According to this ratio, among the outbound tourists, there will be nearly 654.38 billion people who need to surf the Internet, and most of them are willing to pay relatively reasonable overseas Internet access fees. The total amount added up is also amazing.
Roaming the world to find a new starting point
At T3 Terminal of Capital Airport, you can see the counter of global roaming service as soon as you get out of the international customs security check. "Global Roaming" (English: Uroaming) was established in May 2003, and it is the largest provider of entry-exit communication services in China. In the early days, their main business was relatively simple, just doing outbound mobile phone rental service at the Capital Airport to provide smooth communication for people going abroad.
However, the staff roaming around the world gradually realize that more outbound passengers are asking how to surf the Internet overseas, not by phone. This is not only the mentality of tourists sharing photos when they are playing outside, but also the demand of business people for the network in dealing with work, sending and receiving emails, network video conferences and so on.
In the early days of online social media, the way for outbound tourists to surf the Internet was to temporarily buy 3G calling cards of their destinations. For example, in Hong Kong, Singapore and other places, it is easy to buy prepaid short-term calling cards, which contain a certain amount of internet traffic and call time, and the price is not expensive. However, the problem encountered is that another mobile phone needs to be prepared, and it must be "bare metal", that is, it cannot be a contract machine of domestic operators, otherwise the signal may be incompatible or the mobile phone may be locked. * * * People traveling together must buy calling cards, otherwise they can't enjoy the mobile phone network. The biggest problem is that in areas with completely different network standards, such as South Korea and Japan, the number is bound to the mobile phone, so it is impossible to replace the mobile phone card to access the Internet.
Based on these observations and analysis. Global roaming officially started the wireless Wi-Fi rental business from 20 1 1. Especially in airports in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the company's wireless Wi-Fi equipment has become the first choice for going abroad.
The principle of global roaming Wi-Fi to realize outbound online is very simple. If you want to travel to any country, you can inform them by booking in advance, and then they will rent the Wi-Fi equipment with local calling cards to users. It is like a wireless router that you can buy online, and it can provide network support for four or five people around you at the same time. Continuous battery life lasts for more than half a day, which can be charged with the equipped charger and is also compatible with charging treasure.
Sun Dehuo, vice president of global roaming, said that global roaming usually talks with operators about a big data traffic pool agreement, and then redesigns the package and sells it in different cards. But for different operators, the specific ways of cooperation will be different.
At present, the business of renting wireless Wi-Fi devices and mobile phones and selling mobile phone cards has been stable, and it has achieved profits for the company. However, due to the inevitable downward trend of overseas communication costs, the company still hopes to obtain income through other services.
Sun Dehuo revealed that Global Roaming is developing some travel magazine products, hoping to obtain new profit sources through advertising investment or coupon cooperation, and the company's services such as Wi-Fi rental may become an entrance. In his view, the basic communication leasing business can help the company get more accurate users, and advertising may be a new way for the company to make profits.
At the same time, Global Roaming has realized that all companies providing outbound Wi-Fi services are looking for new entry points, such as paying attention to possible consumption after leaving the country, and this business opportunity will have more imagination. Sun Dehuo judged that it will be a bigger business to provide consumer services at the destination in the future.
Skyroam global business dream
Compared with global roaming, Skyroam's online technology is more complicated. Their equipment doesn't need a SIM card. They can write the serial number of the SIM card into the device. Even if the tourists don't return the equipment, the number in the equipment can be invalidated by remote control.
Liu Jing, CEO of Skyroam, found business opportunities in a cooperation. In 2005, he started his second venture. The project is to cooperate with Blackberry to reduce the international long-distance telephone charges of large and medium-sized enterprises through VoIP technology. Then he found that the user's pain point is actually not the long-distance phone bill, but the roaming fee. How to solve the roaming problem has become the key to Liu Jing's thinking. Finally, in 2008, he led the team to find a solution to this problem-using a "virtual SIM card" technology to realize roaming the world without changing cards. In 2009, Liu Jing returned to China to start a business, and established Skyroam Company, which was successively invested by Jinshajiang Venture Capital and Broadband Capital. In March of this year, the "Roaming Treasure" developed by Skyroam was officially commercialized, and its service was oriented to outbound Wi-Fi access.
Skyroam built a platform, and then cooperated with operators all over the world to let them join the platform. After users use traffic, operators will get a certain share. Of course, for some operators who don't accept the share, Skyroam will cooperate with them by purchasing traffic.
Skyroam "Roaming Treasure" currently covers 45 countries and regions, and will cover more than 100 countries next year. Although this product mainly serves China users at present, in Skyroam's plan, outbound Wi-Fi will be a global business, not just for China consumers. "Although we were established in China, our service will not be limited to domestic customers. We will also provide roaming services for consumers in other countries. " Liu Jing pointed out that the United States is Skyroam's first market, and Roaming Treasure will soon be sold in Best Buy, Amazon, airports and other channels.
In the domestic market, Skyroam mainly cooperates with travel service companies to promote its business, but in the second half of this year, it will sell directly to individuals and launch different traffic packages. At present, Skyroam has served hundreds of thousands of people, and the traffic consumed by users has increased by more than 100% every month. Although Skyroam has not made money yet, it is not worried about its future potential.
Price wars in different fields
Sun Dehuo once mentioned in an interview that although the demand for wireless Wi-Fi abroad is relatively rigid and growing rapidly, it is not easy to make money from it. Especially now, there are many personal online stores on Taobao website that provide similar services, so visitors can have more choices. And it's not easy for them to get the tariff around 40 yuan every day.
Searching for the keyword "surfing the Internet abroad" on Taobao does have many similar services. Many merchants provide mobile phone cards or rent Wi-Fi devices at low prices in the United States and Europe. The basic price is above 200 yuan, and users can use it at the destination for about 7 days. This is especially attractive to business people on short-term business trips. They can deliver the eggs directly to the customers.
Facing the fierce price war, global roaming "actually makes money by outlets and services". Sun Dehuo introduced that in order to facilitate users to return wireless Wi-Fi equipment, Global Roaming has continuously expanded its outlets at the airport, and at the same time opened 400 telephones to provide 24-hour Chinese support services for users who rent Wi-Fi.
Liu Jing, CEO of Skyroam, said, "For a cup of coffee a day, users can surf the Internet anytime, anywhere. Skyroam just wants to make outbound Wi-Fi easy and convenient. " At present, users need to pay more than 30 yuan a day to connect to local communication networks around the world after purchasing a roaming treasure terminal (or renting it through a cooperative travel agency), which is exactly the same as the money found in a coffee shop to buy a cup of coffee online.
Now, foreign communication service companies are also eyeing the China market and want a piece of the action.
Olleh, a communication giant from South Korea, will stand out in the future Wi-Fi war. As a unified brand of KT, they merged the three businesses of mobile phone, cable network and landline into one company a few years ago, named olleh, and then gradually grew in the communication industry. With the popularity of Korean dramas and the relaxation of visa policy in South Korea in recent years, the proportion of China tourists visiting South Korea has soared. Olleh has set up a special Chinese website to attract customers. China people can book directly on the website and then pick up the goods at the Korean destination airport. The most attractive strategy they formulated was to waive the rental fee for two days of departure and return during the most popular period of You from the Stars.
Because for these operating companies, the lease policy is that the departure and return are all one day by default. In other words, you can only use the Wi-Fi service at 23: 00 p.m. local time, or 1 am can return the equipment to China. This one-hour trip is also equivalent to the cost of a whole day. So olleh company made a lot of tourists during that time. After all, for ordinary tourists, the two-day rental fee is quite attractive. It can be seen that olleh company's good intentions and determination to grab this cake.
In addition, traditional mobile phone operators have begun to pay attention to how to reduce tariffs and let old users enjoy foreign direct roaming network services. At present, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom have all launched different overseas Internet package services, and the tariffs have indeed dropped significantly compared with the past.
As mentioned above, Skyroam attaches great importance to cooperation with travel agencies, which also provides new ideas for travel agencies. Just this spring, major tour groups began to implement the strategy of enjoying free Wi-Fi to attract tourists. It seems that "those who get Wi-Fi get tourists" has become a key factor in competition.