Do I need to check in the wi-fi eggs when traveling abroad?

No need

Pocket-sized

Smartphones and power banks have become standard equipment for people traveling out and about. However, with the increase in the number of outbound tourists and the seriousness of "Internet dependence", many people have added a little friend commonly known as "egg" to their portable electronic devices. This device, which can provide wireless Internet services anytime and anywhere abroad, has brought new business opportunities with its popularity.

With the changes in the way people communicate, the use of online communication tools such as WeChat and WhatsApp has become frequent and intensive. The birth of SNS platforms such as Weibo, Moments, and Instagram has also increased people's dependence on the Internet. The hot topic on Sina Weibo, "Take Weibo to travel", can become popular only if you can access the Internet anytime and anywhere while traveling, so that you can share what you see and hear in a timely manner. Based on this demand, a wireless Wi-Fi that is cheap to use and can be carried around has emerged. It is smaller than a mobile phone and has a cute shape, so some people abroad call this device "egg".

Wi-Fi is in great demand abroad

In the lobbies of foreign hotels, you often see a scene like this: a group of people standing or sitting in the lobby, most of them holding Wi-Fi in their hands Hold your phone or tablet and browse the Internet with your fingers. Because many hotel lobbies provide free Wi-Fi to guests, while some high-end hotels charge for Internet access after entering the room. Of course, this scene not only exists in hotel lobbies, but also in cafes, restaurants and some shopping malls. In this regard, the Chinese have specially named this behavior "censorship".

In China, the popularity of 3G networks and the reduction of 4G tariffs have made the cost of mobile Internet access more affordable. However, the cost of data roaming by operators in foreign countries is too expensive. If it is billed by traffic, whether it is China Mobile, China Unicom or China Telecom, if the average user continues to maintain the domestic Internet frequency, it can be easily consumed. 100 yuan phone bill. So “is there Wi-fi”? Be the first question tourists ask wherever they go.

However, in areas with relatively developed communication industries, such as South Korea, which is known for its ultra-fast Internet speed and high coverage, there are not free Wi-Fi networks available everywhere. Therefore, portable Wi-Fi has created huge market potential, and some companies have begun to target this and seriously treat overseas Wi-Fi as a big business.

How big this market demand is can be seen from the statistics provided by the China Tourism Academy: the number of domestic outbound tourists this year will reach 114 million, a year-on-year increase of 16%. According to the "2014 China Outbound Travel Free Wi-Fi Survey Report" produced by Ctrip.com, more than 90% of respondents believe that free Wi-Fi is an indispensable service in travel itineraries. Calculated based on this ratio, nearly 100 million people among the number of people traveling abroad will have Internet access needs, and most of them are willing to pay relatively reasonable overseas Internet access fees. The total added up is also staggering.

Finding a new entry point for global roaming

In the Capital Airport T3 terminal, as soon as you exit the international customs security check, you can see the counter for the global roaming service. "Uroaming" (English: Uroaming) was founded in May 2003 and is currently the largest entry-exit communication service provider in China. Their main business in the early days was relatively simple. They just provided outbound mobile phone rental services at the Capital Airport to provide smooth communication for people going abroad.

However, the staff of Global Roaming have gradually noticed that more outbound travelers are asking about how to access the Internet overseas than using phone calls. This is not only the mentality of tourists to upload photos and share them when they are out and about. Business people also have a demand for the Internet when handling work, sending and receiving emails, online video conferencing, etc. They cannot be ignored.

In the initial stage of online social media, the way outbound passengers solved the problem of surfing the Internet was to temporarily purchase a 3G phone card for the destination. For example, in Hong Kong, Singapore and other places, you can easily buy a prepaid short-term phone card, which includes a certain amount of Internet traffic and call time, and the price is not expensive. But the problem encountered is that you need to prepare a separate mobile phone, and it must be "bare metal", that is, it cannot be a contract phone with a domestic operator, otherwise the signal may be incompatible or the phone may be locked. People traveling together must each purchase a phone card, otherwise they will not be able to enjoy the mobile network. The biggest problem is that in regions with completely different network standards, such as South Korea and Japan, where numbers are bundled with mobile phones, it is not possible to change mobile phone cards to access the Internet.

Based on the above observations and analysis. Global Roaming officially launched its wireless Wi-Fi rental business in 2011. Especially at airports in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other places, this company's wireless Wi-Fi equipment has become the first choice for traveling abroad.

The principle of global roaming Wi-Fi for outbound travel is very simple. If you want to travel to a country, you can inform it by booking in advance, and then they rent to the user a Wi-Fi equipped with a local calling card. -Fi device.

It's like a wireless router you can buy online that can provide network support to four or five people around you at the same time. The battery life when turned on continuously is maintained at more than half a day. It can be charged with the provided charger and is also compatible with power banks.

Sun Dehuo, Vice President of Global Roaming, said that Global Roaming usually negotiates a large data traffic pool agreement with operators, and then redesigns the packages and sells them separately. But for different operators, the specific cooperation models will also be different.

Currently, Global Roaming’s businesses such as renting wireless Wi-Fi equipment and mobile phones, and selling mobile phone cards have been stable and have made profits for the company. However, due to the foreseeable and inevitable trend of gradually lowering overseas communication charges, The company still hopes to generate revenue through other services.

Sun Dehuo revealed that Global Roaming is developing some travel magazine products, hoping to obtain new sources of profit through advertising investment or coupon cooperation, and by then the company's Wi-Fi rental and other services may become An entrance. In his view, the basic communication leasing business can help the company obtain more precise users, and advertising may be the company's new way to make money.

At the same time, Global Roaming has realized that all companies that provide outbound Wi-Fi services are looking for new entry points, such as focusing on the consumption that may occur after leaving the country. The imagination of this business opportunity will be even greater. Sun Dehuo’s judgment: Providing consumer services to outbound travelers at their destination will be a bigger business in the future.

Skyroam dreams of global business

Compared with global roaming, the Internet technology used by Skyroam is more complicated. Their device does not require a SIM card. You can write the serial number of the SIM card into the device. Even if the tourist takes the device and does not return it, the number in the device can be invalidated through remote control.

Skyroam CEO Liu Jing discovered the business opportunity during a cooperation. In 2005, he started his second business. The project was to cooperate with BlackBerry mobile phones to reduce the international long-distance call charges of large and medium-sized enterprises through VoIP technology. Then he discovered that the pain point for users was not actually long-distance charges, but roaming charges. 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 enable roaming around the world without changing cards. In 2009, Liu Jing returned to China to start a new business and established Skyroam Company, which received investments from Jinshajiang Venture Capital and Broadband Capital. In March this year, the "Roaming Treasure" developed by Skyroam was officially put into commercial use, and the service was positioned for outbound Wi-Fi Internet access.

Skyroam builds a platform and then works with operators around the world to get them to join the platform. After the user uses the traffic, the operator will receive a certain share. Of course, Skyroam will cooperate with some operators who do not accept sharing by purchasing traffic.

Skyroam currently covers 45 countries and regions, and will cover more than 100 countries next year. Although this product currently mainly serves Chinese users, in Skyroam's plan, outbound travel Wi-Fi will be a global business, not just for Chinese consumers. "Although we were established in China, our services will not be limited to domestic customers. We will also provide roaming services to consumers in other countries." Liu Jing pointed out that the United States is the first market Skyroam wants to acquire, and "Roaming Treasure" will It will be sold soon at Best Buy, Amazon, airports and other channels.

In the domestic market, Skyroam currently mainly cooperates with travel service companies to promote business, but in the second half of this year it will sell directly to individuals and launch different traffic packages. At present, the cumulative number of Skyroam services has exceeded hundreds of thousands, and the traffic consumed by users has achieved more than 100% growth every month. Although Skyroam isn't making money yet, it's not worried about its future potential.

Price wars in different fields

Sun Dehuo once mentioned in an interview: 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 that there are many personal online stores on the Taobao website that provide similar services, tourists can have more choices. Moreover, it is not easy for them to raise the tariff to about 40 yuan per day.

If you search for the keyword "surfing the Internet abroad" on Taobao, you will indeed find many similar services. Many merchants provide mobile phone cards or rent Wi-Fi equipment in the United States, Europe and other places at cheap rates. The basic price is that users only need to pay more than 200 yuan, and they can use it at their destination for about 7 days without any traffic limit. This is particularly attractive for business people on short-term business trips. And they can deliver eggs directly to customers.

Faced with fierce price wars, Global Roaming "actually makes money through outlets and services." Sun Dehuo said that for the convenience of users to pick up and return wireless Wi-Fi equipment, Global Roaming continues to expand its outlets at the airport and has also opened a 400 hotline to provide 24-hour Chinese support services for users who rent Wi-Fi.

Skyroam CEO Liu Jing’s idea is: “For the price of a cup of coffee a day, users can surf the Internet anytime and anywhere. Skyroam hopes to make outbound Wi-Fi simple and convenient.” Currently, users purchase After the "Roaming Treasure" terminal (which can also be rented through the travel agency it cooperates with), it is connected to the local communication network in various places around the world. It costs more than 30 yuan to surf the Internet every day. It happened to be discovered while surfing the Internet in a coffee shop. Had to pay quite a bit for a cup of coffee.

Now, foreign communication service companies are also eyeing the Chinese market and want to get a share of the pie.

Olleh, the communications giant from South Korea, has already emerged in the future Wi-Fi war. As the unified brand of KT, they integrated the three businesses of mobile phones, wired networks, and landlines into one company a few years ago, named olleh, and then became stronger in the communications industry. With the popularity of Korean dramas and the relaxation of Korean visa policies in recent years, the proportion of Chinese tourists traveling to South Korea has skyrocketed. olleh opened a special Chinese website to attract customers. Chinese people can make reservations directly on the website and then pick up the goods at the destination airport in South Korea. The most attractive strategy they formulated was to waive the rental fee for the two days of departure and return during the period when "My Love from the Star" was the most popular.

Because for these operating companies, the rental policy defaults to a full day for departure and return. In other words, you can use the Wi-Fi service only at 23:00 local time, or you can return to your country and return the equipment at 1:00 in the morning. One hour of going back and forth is equivalent to a full day's fee. Therefore, the olleh company's discounts during that period earned a lot of customers. After all, for ordinary tourists, the two-day rental fee is still relatively attractive. This fully shows the good intentions of Olleh Company and its determination to grab this piece of cake.

In addition, traditional mobile phone operators have also begun to pay attention to how to reduce tariffs so that old users can enjoy direct roaming network services when going abroad. At present, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom have all launched different overseas Internet package services, and the rates have indeed dropped significantly compared to before.

As mentioned above, Skyroam values ??cooperation with travel agencies and provides new ideas for travel agencies. Just this spring, major tour groups began to implement the strategy of enjoying free Wi-Fi when joining a group to attract tourists. It seems that "those who get Wi-Fi get tourists" have become a key factor in competition.