"Age restrictions for mobile phone plans?"

Recently, multiple China Mobile users have reported that when applying for the Dynamic Zone Mango Card package, they were told that in Guangdong Province, only customers under 30 years old are eligible to sign up.

On China Mobile's official website, the package clearly states that in Guangdong Province, only customers aged 30 and under can apply, while in Jiangsu Province, only customers aged 35 and under are eligible. Customer service representatives from both Guangdong Mobile and Jiangsu Mobile confirmed the age restrictions but failed to provide specific reasons for implementing such clauses.

Regarding the controversy sparked by this clause, users have expressed two different viewpoints: one side believes this may constitute age discrimination and that age-related restrictions should be abolished; the other side argues that telecommunications operators providing customized service plans based on different user consumption characteristics and habits is also a form of refined service. However, the specific rule settings may need to be more transparent for better public understanding.

**Package Age Restrictions Leave Users Puzzled**

Recently, a Guangdong Mobile user reported that in August this year, he applied to change to the Dynamic Zone Mango Card 59-yuan package through China Mobile's app, but China Mobile's customer service hotline 10086 informed him during a follow-up call that the package is restricted to users under 30 years old.

This left him extremely puzzled, believing that China Mobile was using age as a restriction criterion, preventing some consumers from enjoying equal benefits. After multiple complaints and feedback, his request to change packages remains unresolved.

Research reveals that in 2023, China Mobile and Mango TV jointly launched the Dynamic Zone Mango Card, which includes large data allowances, high-speed broadband, nationwide voice calls, and dual memberships to Mango TV and Migu Video, making it quite cost-effective. However, the mobile company's current age-based restrictions on applying for and changing to this package have left many users confused.

On China Mobile's official website, the Dynamic Zone Mango Card package indeed has some application and modification restrictions. It specifically mentions that Guangdong Province limits eligibility to customers aged 30 and under, while Jiangsu Province limits it to customers aged 35 and under.

Why do Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces have these special age-related regulations? China Mobile's customer service stated that inquiries should be directed to local customer service.

When contacted, both Guangdong Mobile and Jiangsu Mobile customer service confirmed the age restrictions but could not provide clear reasons for why age limits were set, only stating that business processing rules are as such.

On China Mobile's official website, Jiangsu Mobile previously published a "Notice Regarding Mango Card Application Age Rules," which mentioned that according to product design rules, Mango Card is open for application to young customers, and users applying for new services or transfers must be 35 years old or younger. After application, if a customer's age naturally increases beyond 35, it does not affect the use of already processed products.

Facing the controversy, industry insiders believe that telecommunications operators providing customized service plans based on different user consumption characteristics and habits is also a manifestation of refined service. However, specific rule settings may need to be more transparent for easier user understanding.

**Poor Half-Year Report: First Negative Revenue Growth in Six Years**

Notably, China Mobile recently released its half-year report.

The financial report shows that China Mobile achieved revenue of 543.8 billion yuan in the first half of this year, down 0.5% year-on-year. This marks the first negative revenue growth in half-year reports since 2020, or the first in nearly six years; net profit was 84.2 billion yuan, up 5.0% year-on-year, with net profit growth also hitting a new low in nearly five years.

By market revenue type, personal market revenue was 244.7 billion yuan, down 4.1% year-on-year, the only decline among China Mobile's four major revenue categories: personal, household, enterprise, and emerging markets. In main business revenue, voice services, SMS/MMS services, and wireless internet services all declined. Voice service revenue was 34.2 billion yuan, down 5.7% year-on-year. SMS/MMS service revenue was 16.1 billion yuan, down slightly by 0.7%. Wireless internet service revenue was 195.5 billion yuan, down 4.7% year-on-year.

China Mobile Chairman Yang Jie candidly admitted at the earnings conference that the second half faces some pressures and challenges: communication service revenue growth is further slowing, with revenue even showing negative growth, and both the personal market and ARPU showing varying degrees of decline. He mentioned that traditional communication demand is approaching saturation, population dividends are gradually diminishing, with mobile phone users totaling 1.8 billion among a population of 1.4 billion, voice calls and SMS continuing negative growth, and data traffic in a stable growth period; new information services are still in cultivation and development stages, such as AI requiring time to generate revenue; market competition is further intensifying, with many large data cards and low-price data cards sold online.

Notably, Yang Jie specifically mentioned number portability services, expressing strong criticism: "Number portability was originally meant to improve services and give customers choice, but now it has evolved into a means of vicious competition, with many non-compliant and unfair competitive practices appearing in number portability." This statement also sparked criticism from many netizens, who believe it interferes with users' autonomous choice rights. Regarding number portability, China Mobile is widely considered the biggest loser. For example, in the first quarter of this year, China Mobile's total mobile service customers decreased by 940,000.

For ordinary users, if their demands for switching to more cost-effective packages face various restrictions, number portability will become a choice they have no choice but to make.