Operators lay out the meta-universe: a good business that won’t lose if you win or lose

2021.11.29


Recently, the hottest word is naturally "meta universe". Like Clubhouse a few months ago, it presents a seamless connection between the technological fantasy circle of the post-Internet era and the stock market hype circle. Judging from the various understandings about the meta-universe that have been interpreted now, the meta-universe is almost a collection of 5G+AICDEB (artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, virtual reality, blockchain, etc.) and other technologies. It is all about the Internet. Beautiful design for future development. Of course, many people still only look at Metaverse from the perspective of cloud games and VR/AR upgrades, and Metaverse has far more concepts than reality at the current stage of development. But no matter how you understand it, Metaverse needs the support of a high-speed, low-latency super communication network infrastructure. Without this key link, Metaverse cannot even be regarded as a “tower in the sky”. If we first assume that Metaverse is not a fantasy, but an "oasis" that will come in a few years, then operators obviously don't want to miss this feast. At the "2021 International Digital Technology Exhibition and Tianyi Intelligent Ecological Expo", China Telecom announced that it will promote ecological cooperation such as cloud VR, cloud AR, and cloud games to help the rapid implementation of meta-universe scenes. It also launched a super-realistic digital person-"China Telecom No. 001 digital employee Xiaolin". In fact, China Telecom selected the virtual singer "Luo Tianyi" as its brand spokesperson a long time ago. China Telecom is not the only operator focusing on the development of Metaverse. Migu, a subsidiary of China Mobile, has made an in-depth layout in VR very early, not only launching a virtual host, but also proposing the concept of a computing power network. At the "2021 China Mobile Global Partner Conference Product Innovation and Convergence Conference", China Mobile Migu shared the MIGU evolution roadmap of Metaverse with the theme of "ride on the 5G information high-speed rail and accelerate to Metaverse." If we simply look at the meta-universe, it does seem to be closer to the game. However, after researching, it will be found that the meta-universe is more of a real-world mapping, all-encompassing. Although the content is important, the entrance is not necessarily important. The more core of returning to the essence is the realization technology. In the future, if the meta-universe really becomes a digital space-time parallel to the physical world, whoever controls the core technology will become the real waver. Operators have unique network advantages. The current 5G and future 6G will undoubtedly become the core resources of operators. Especially from the perspective of the development of 5G, operators have begun to get rid of the fate of "network pipeline" and return to the center of the social industrial chain. If the meta-universe era arrives, it won't work without the operator, even less without the dominant position of the operator. In other core technologies, that is, the key areas of "new infrastructure," operators are not bad either. Cloud computing and big data are developing at a high speed. The Internet of Things and artificial intelligence are also investing heavily. They are basically on the same starting line with other Internet companies and are qualified to compete. On the whole, operators and Internet companies have kept pace with the concept expansion and industrial development of Metaverse. Don't underestimate the word "synchronization", because synchronization is the result of operators' first powerful catch-up after being suppressed by Internet companies for more than a decade. It can be said that operators can at least advance and retreat with Internet companies in the development of Metaverse, and will not miss historical opportunities. Meta universe is an authentic product of digital economy and a milestone in the digital age. Different from the Internet era where traffic is king, the digital economy era emphasizes success in operations, and this is exactly the strength of operators with strong leadership and execution. Internet companies are good at building a meta-universe framework, and operators may be more suitable for operation and maintenance of this digital space-time. It can be said that if the operator is not the final winner of the metaverse, then the Internet company is not. Of course, all of the above are based on the assumption that the meta-universe can finally be realized. Even if Metaverse eventually becomes a stock speculation concept, the operator has nothing to lose. At most, it can be regarded as participating in a failed large project. Learning proper hype and packaging, and telling your own business story, may be a greater gain for operators.