8月1日，中国移动、中国电信、中国联通三大运营商同时发布公告，正式暂停互联网等第三方线上渠道的号卡申请业务，仅保留官方应用和官方网站等官方渠道[1]。此举导致此前在抖音等平台销售的低价流量卡全面消失[1]。这类低价流量卡曾提供"19元300GB"等极低价格套餐，与官方五六十元的常规套餐相比价差超过15倍[1]。
运营商采取此行动源于多重挑战的积累[1]。地方运营商通过补贴提供的低价套餐导致持续亏损，代理商通过"快速起号——卖卡——跑路"方式薅取运营商佣金并欺骗用户，增加了投诉成本[1]。同时，全国范围的销售渠道导致流量成本与获客收益失衡，市场饱和下新用户稀缺[1]。流量卡的优惠通常仅为半年到一年期限，之后恢复到39元或更高价格[1]。
已办理的流量卡用户不受此举影响，可继续使用，套餐资费和流量不会发生变化[1]。三大运营商发布了《关于规范互联网渠道号卡业务办理的公告》[1]。
China's three major telecommunications operators—China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom—jointly announced on August 1st the suspension of SIM card application services through third-party online channels, restricting sales to official channels only such as their mobile apps and official websites.[1] This action effectively eliminated the low-cost data plan cards that had been widely marketed on platforms like Douyin, where promotional offers such as "19 yuan for 300GB" were advertised at prices over 15 times lower than official plans priced at 50 to 60 yuan.[1]
The operators cited multiple reasons for the crackdown, including persistent losses from subsidized low-cost packages offered through local distributors, fraudulent practices by resellers who would quickly activate accounts, sell cards, and then disappear while collecting commissions, increased complaint costs, imbalanced flow expenses versus customer acquisition revenue due to nationwide distribution, and market saturation reducing new user availability.[1] Data plan cards typically offered discounted rates for periods ranging from six months to one year, after which prices would revert to 39 yuan or higher.[1] However, existing users with already-activated cards will not be affected and can continue using their services with unchanged rates and data allowances.[1]
