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As of March 26, China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom have all disclosed their annual performance reports for 2025.
China Mobile reported revenue of CNY 1,050.187 billion last year, a year-on-year increase of 0.9%; net profit attributable to shareholders was CNY 137.095 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 0.9%.
China Telecom's revenue was approximately CNY 523.925 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.1%; net profit attributable to shareholders was approximately CNY 33.185 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.5%.
China Unicom's revenue for 2025 was CNY 392.22 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.7%; net profit attributable to shareholders was CNY 9.13 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.1%.
However, more noteworthy than the revenue figures is the shift in investment logic behind them. The three major operators have unanimously chosen the strategy of &#34;streamlining total volume and optimizing structure.&#34;
In 2026, China Mobile's capital expenditure plan is CNY 136.6 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 9.5%; China Telecom's is expected to be CNY 73 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 9.2%; and China Unicom's will drop to around CNY 50 billion.
Overall investment is contracting, but the three major operators have collectively established &#34;computing power&#34; as the absolute core of capital expenditure.
China Mobile stated that capital expenditure on communication networks will decrease, while capital expenditure on computing power networks and intelligent networks will significantly increase.
According to the financial report, China Mobile's capital expenditure plan for 2026 is CNY 136.6 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 9.5%, of which investment in computing power networks is CNY 37.8 billion, an increase of 62.4%, accounting for about 28% of the capital expenditure plan, and investment in intelligent networks is CNY 8.9 billion, an increase of 19.8%.
China Mobile's management stated at the earnings conference that the company regards computing power services as an important growth driver for high-quality development, aiming to double its revenue by the end of the &#34;14th Five-Year Plan.&#34; Meanwhile, the company will accelerate the enhancement of AIDC, computing power, and Token capabilities.
According to the financial report, revenue from computing power services grew rapidly in 2025, reaching CNY 89.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%. Thanks to the rapid growth in demand for intelligent computing, intelligent computing services have become the primary engine, with a growth rate of 279%, driving cloud computing service revenue to increase by 13.9% year-on-year.
Just before the financial report was disclosed, the largest single-scale intelligent computing center in Hong Kong—the China Mobile Global Intelligent Computing Center—was inaugurated, significantly enhancing the supply of high-performance intelligent computing resources in Hong Kong, capable of supporting the training and inference of large models with hundreds of billions of parameters.
The proportion of investment in computing power for China Telecom and China Unicom is also very high.
China Telecom's capital expenditure for 2025 is CNY 80.4 billion, although the total is less than that of China Mobile, its investment in computing power infrastructure is CNY 20.2 billion, accounting for about 25%. China Unicom's total capital expenditure for the year is CNY 54.2 billion, with the capital expenditure-to-main business revenue ratio decreasing to 16%. Although it did not disclose specific capital expenditure related to computing power, it clearly stated in the financial report that capital expenditure is expected to be around CNY 50 billion in 2026, with computing power investment accounting for more than 35%
In the view of Ke Ruiwen, Chairman of China Telecom, strengthening computing power investment can both hedge against the impact of tax rate adjustments and help cultivate new growth points during the transformation. The company will accelerate Token operations and use AI methods to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of existing assets.
In response to tax rate changes, Li Yuzhuo, Chief Financial Officer of China Unicom, introduced that the company will accelerate business structure optimization, focusing more on the four core tracks of &#34;connection, computing power, services, and security,&#34; promoting the transformation from a &#34;basic pipeline provider&#34; to a &#34;digital comprehensive service provider.&#34;
As of now, China Mobile's intelligent computing (self-built and leased) total scale has reached 92.5 EFLOPS (FP16), achieving full-scale computing capabilities from hundreds to over ten thousand cards. China Telecom's own and accessed intelligent computing total scale has reached 91 EFLOPS, while China Unicom's intelligent computing scale has reached 45 EFLOPS.
In the face of the explosive demand for large AI models, simple network connections can no longer meet market needs. In the past, operators were &#34;movers&#34; of information, primarily investing in pipelines and connections; now they are committed to becoming providers of the &#34;computing power foundation&#34; in the intelligent era.
This article is an exclusive piece from Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.

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As of 2025, the annual performance reports of China's three major operators show fluctuations in revenue and net profit. China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom have all chosen to reduce investment in communication networks and instead increase investment in computing power and intelligent networks. In 2026, China Mobile plans capital expenditures of 136.6 billion yuan, with computing power network investment increasing by 62.4%, accounting for 28%. This strategy aims to promote high-quality development, with pre-computed computing power service revenue expected to grow rapidly

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Reduce investment in communication networks, operators will invest hundreds of billions this year in computing power