A network communication method and a network communications apparatus where the method is applied to an over-the-air network system, and the over-the-air network system includes a service processing device and a level-1 over-the-air network node. The method includes generating, by the service processing device, a collection instruction, where the collection instruction includes a preset collection rule, the preset collection rule is used to instruct the level-1 over-the-air network node to collect, according to the preset collection rule, service data reported by a terminal in a target area, and the target area is an area covered by the level-1 over-the-air network node; sending, by the service processing device, the collection instruction to the level-1 over-the-air network node; and collecting, by the level-1 over-the-air network node according to the preset collection rule in the collection instruction, the service data reported by the terminal in the target area.