China's three major telecom operators halt low‑price data card sales

On 31 July, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom announced that, effective 1 August 2026, all third‑party online channels for selling data cards – including e‑commerce sites, short‑video livestreams and community mini‑programs – will be closed. Only the operators' official apps and websites will remain for card issuance, ending the popular ultra‑cheap "19 yuan 200 GB" and "9 yuan 100 GB" plans.

The move sparked debate among media and industry experts. Consumer‑focused outlets warned that the blanket ban could reduce choice and raise digital‑service costs, while telecom analysts highlighted long‑standing issues such as false advertising, cross‑regional price wars and weak real‑name verification in the third‑party channel ecosystem. Some legal scholars defended the action as necessary for compliance and fraud prevention.

According to the analysis, the root cause lies in the operators' own performance metrics. Local subsidiaries, pressured to meet new‑user acquisition targets, created unsustainably low‑price packages and relied on heavily subsidised third‑party distribution. The central companies now bear the cost of correcting these practices, aiming to improve data‑security, pricing fairness and overall industry credibility.