Recently, China's three telecom behemoths—China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom—have sequentially rolled out channel regulation initiatives, aiming to spur systematic transformations within the industry. By late September, all three operators had fully ceased the '0 yuan phone purchase' promotional schemes. Prior to this move, they had already discontinued the provision of mobile phone number card services through third-party online platforms, consolidating their online SIM card sales channels into their official Apps and websites.
Zhu Keli, the founding president of the New Economy Research Institute, emphasized that these strategic shifts signify the operators' departure from the high-subsidy, high-commission extensive growth model that was previously employed to attract users. Consequently, this transition is expected to diminish the 'foam'—a term used here to denote inflated or unsustainable costs—associated with customer acquisition. (Note: The term 'foam' is retained from the original translation to preserve the author's intent; however, 'inflated costs' could be substituted for enhanced clarity, depending on the context.)