Amid the surging wave of artificial intelligence (AI) and the transitional gap between legacy and new businesses, the telecommunications industry faces Socrates' "three fundamental questions": Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going?
Between June and November, through two major conferences, China Mobile provided an operator's answer amidst deep reflection: The mobile network is a trusted force delivering intelligent services and a solid foundation supporting the intelligent economy; there are endless frontiers for mobile networks, and all this has only just begun.
On June 24, at MWC Shanghai, Chen Zhongyue, Chairman of China Mobile, delivered a speech titled "Mobile Intelligence, Boundless Inclusivity." On November 6, at the 2026 Mobile Network Conference in Guangzhou, he gave another speech titled "Strengthening the Network Foundation, Co-creating Intelligence." The first speech addressed where to break through; the second explained how to systematically achieve breakthroughs and what must be preserved during the process.
Who Am I
In 2026, Socrates' "three fundamental questions" have become concrete and sharp for the telecommunications industry. As network coverage approaches ubiquity, as connectivity itself increasingly resembles utilities like water and electricity, and as the value of being a "pipe" becomes difficult to monetize, should operators completely transform into AI companies?
At the Guangzhou conference, China Mobile clarified its identity first.
"Telecommunications is the solid foundation for China Mobile's high-quality development and our basis for survival," and "The network is China Mobile's most critical development base, our fundamental reliance for serving customers and society." These statements indicate that regardless of the surging AI wave or the emphasis on AI development, China Mobile will not abandon its telecommunications roots, discard its network foundation, or fully dive into the pure AI track of computing power, algorithms, and models.
Chen Zhongyue stated that every economic form has corresponding infrastructure. A new intelligent economy requires new infrastructure. China Mobile summarized its mobile network strategy for the intelligent economy era in three phrases: Intelligence First (AI FIRST), Computing Power Key (Cloud FAST), and Telecommunications Base (Mobile BEST). In these three terms, "Intelligence" comes first and "Telecommunications" last, yet it lands on "Base," with "BEST" in parentheses highlighting its importance.
This is also the answer to "Who am I": Many interpret transformation as switching tracks. However, from China Mobile's perspective, it remains primarily a telecommunications enterprise and a builder of digital infrastructure. Therefore, it must deepen its expertise in its strongest domain and grow outward based on the network: converting connectivity advantages into computing-network advantages, encapsulating network capabilities into intelligent services, and rooting AI in its own foundation.
Where Do I Come From
A tree that grows tall must first secure its roots. To understand the weight of the word "Base" in telecommunications, one must know where telecommunications came from, which requires looking back to Shanghai.
At MWC Shanghai on June 24, Chen Zhongyue's speech "Mobile Intelligence, Boundless Inclusivity" began with the story of Zhang Xujia, a person with disabilities. Living in a silent world, he gained his own voice for the first time through an AI device and China Mobile's one-person-one-model accessibility technology.
He then outlined the history of mobile communications: In the mobile communication era, networks transmitted voice and messages, essentially enabling real-time human-to-human communication across distances. In the mobile internet era, networks transmitted bytes, expanding service boundaries to free interaction between people and platforms. In the mobile intelligence era, networks handle not just data streams of 0s and 1s, but intelligent streams carrying knowledge and solving problems.
With each step the service boundary expands outward, the operator's value is re-evaluated. This led to the vision of becoming a "technology service enterprise," the strategic direction of "Intelligence First," and the renewal of the meaning of "Mobile"—extending from Mobile Communication to Mobile Computing and Mobile AI.
The triple "Mobile" corresponds exactly to the three pillars proposed at the Guangzhou conference: telecommunications, computing power, and intelligence. This indicates that the new direction is not a branch growing from nowhere, but sprouting from the roots of mobile communications. The base stations built and fiber optics laid by operators over decades, along with the voice, messaging, and traffic services they provide and their commitment to inclusive service concepts, constitute the path they have traveled and guide their future direction.
Notably, in the Shanghai speech, China Mobile proposed three short phrases: Worry, Don't be worried; Move, Don't be Moved; Change, Don't be Changed. The phrase "Change, Don't be Changed" set the stage for the Guangzhou conference.
Where Am I Going
In Guangzhou, China Mobile systematically answered "Where am I going," starting with three sets of data.
The first set concerns scale. This year, mobile internet traffic grew by 18%, while traffic generated by AI content increased fivefold, becoming a new source of vitality for the internet.
The second set concerns structure. The average uplink-to-downlink traffic ratio across the entire network is 1:9. For AI applications, it is 1:6, and for some future applications, it may reach 1:1 or higher. Current network resources prioritize download assurance and cannot well match the structural changes in data transmission.
The third set concerns latency. The Time to First Token (TTFT) averages 700 milliseconds, of which only 35 milliseconds occur on the mobile network side, while 665 milliseconds occur on the cloud platform side, accounting for 95% of total latency. As AI extends into the physical world, the bottleneck is no longer access.
The three sets of data point to the same conclusion: It is necessary to re-examine how to upgrade mobile network architectures and system performance, optimize bandwidth structures and routing efficiency, and guarantee network capacity and end-to-end latency to better support the development of the intelligent economy.
"Every economic form has corresponding infrastructure. A new intelligent economy requires new infrastructure," said Chen Zhongyue. "There are endless frontiers for mobile networks, and all this has only just begun."
However, this network is not the old network.
In his definition, the mobile network consists of ubiquitous network nodes combined with precise and seamless routing capabilities, supported by teams covering urban and rural areas with global reach. It is a trusted force delivering intelligent services and a solid foundation supporting the intelligent economy. It is no longer just a "traffic pipe" but aims to become a "digital-intelligent base."
In terms of construction paths, this translates to the "Three Networks": Fully build the next-generation communication network, accelerate the construction of the integrated computing power network, and innovatively construct the converged and interconnected intelligent network. Under this definition, the communication network, computing power network, and intelligent network all fall under the concept of the mobile network.
To address the aforementioned issues, China Mobile particularly emphasized the "Three Routings": The communication network integrates traffic routing, connecting platforms and terminals to enable efficient byte transmission; the computing power network integrates model routing, connecting computing power and data to enable efficient token flow; the intelligent network integrates task routing, connecting models and scenarios to enable efficient intent execution.
Change and Preservation
Revisiting the three short phrases from Shanghai: "Worry, Don't be worried" is about mindset; "Move, Don't be Moved" is about action; "Change, Don't be Changed" is about the bottom line. The first two have already been elaborated upon over the past six months: the intelligent service system, intelligent infrastructure, and the recently proposed "Three Networks."
What truly needed to be supplemented in Guangzhou was the third phrase: In "Change," what changes? In "Preserve," what is kept true?
What changes is the network role, shifting from a "traffic pipe" to a "digital-intelligent base"; the value pursuit, moving from "looking at inputs" to "comparing outputs"; the business structure, evolving from telecommunications services to telecommunications, computing power, and intelligent services; and the connection objects, transitioning from human-to-human communication to human-machine interaction.
What remains unchanged is the principle that "the faster technology evolves, the more we must stick to our original intention." Indeed, whether at MWC Shanghai, the World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, or the Mobile Network Conference, China Mobile has repeatedly mentioned "inclusivity." To achieve intelligent inclusivity, the network must be sufficiently strong.
Finally, regarding the conference name change. This event was renamed from "China Mobile Partners Conference" to "Mobile Network Conference," sparking widespread speculation in the industry. As China Mobile Chairman Chen Zhongyue mentioned in his speech, "There are endless frontiers for mobile networks, and all this has only just begun. This is precisely the implication of the Mobile Network Conference." The name change is not a simple return but a spiral ascent—rediscovering the value origin that mobile communications must uphold within the new coordinate system of the intelligent economy.
Thus, clear answers emerge for the three questions: Fear not AI, nor worship AI alone; uphold the essence of telecommunications, expand the realm of intelligence. This may be a solution for the telecommunications industry to navigate cycles—not overturning oneself to chase waves, but catching the waves and lifting them upon the network foundation that constitutes our core competence.
Editor/Layout: Zhu Wenfeng
Proofreader: Mei Yaxin
Supervisor: Liu Qicheng