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China Tower has established about 6.2 million base station sites, including 3.26 million 5G sites across the Asian nation
In sum – what to know:
Tower transformation – China Tower said at MWC Shanghai that it will accelerate the transformation of telecom towers into digital and intelligent towers.
Shared infrastructure – The company highlighted its ability to combine communications, computing, power, and security resources through shared infrastructure.
Low-altitude focus – China Tower said it is supporting low-altitude infrastructure, including communications, navigation, and digital management platforms.
SHANGHAI — China Tower said it will accelerate the transformation of traditional telecommunications towers into digital and intelligent towers as artificial intelligence drives demand for new digital infrastructure.
Speaking during a keynote session at MWC Shanghai 2026 last week, China Tower chairman Zhang Zhiyong said digital infrastructure has become an important foundation for the intelligent era, adding that digital infrastructure is characterized by connectivity across satellites, networks, cloud, edge and terminals, while also integrating data, algorithms, computing, networks, security and power resources.
“Artificial intelligence has already become the leading force for the new round of technology revolution, as well as the industry revolution,” Zhang said.
The executive said China Tower is continuing to support China’s mobile network infrastructure through its tower assets. According to Zhang, China Tower has established about 6.2 million base station sites, including 3.26 million 5G sites. The company also said its infrastructure covers nearly 50,000 kilometers of transportation networks and approximately 16.4 billion square meters.
The executive also said China Tower is deepening resource sharing by combining location, computing, power and security capabilities.
The executive also said in his keynote speech that low-altitude infrastructure as an area of focus. According to Zhang, China Tower is promoting infrastructure development for the low-altitude economy, including communications, navigation, monitoring, inspection and meteorological infrastructure. The company is also working on comprehensive digital management platforms incorporating context awareness and flight control capabilities for drones and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Zhang said China Tower is also considering how satellite technologies can be used together with terrestrial cellular networks. “The ground-based as well as the satellite-based telecommunications network should be developed at the same time,” he said.
On communications infrastructure, Zhang said China Tower’s nationwide footprint of base stations, optical fiber, equipment rooms, and uninterrupted power supply systems can support 5G, 5G-A and future 6G deployments.
The chairman also highlighted the company’s computing infrastructure activities. According to Zhang, China Tower currently provides server services to hundreds of customers and offers edge computing infrastructure that can be shared across customers. “We can provide you the shared infrastructure for the edge and can contribute to the shared intelligent services,” Zhang said.
The executive said approximately 250,000 telecommunications towers have already been upgraded into digital towers, supporting applications in areas including environmental protection, emergency response, and land management.
On the energy side, Zhang said China Tower is combining photovoltaic systems, wind generation, energy storage, and power technologies to provide what he described as reliable, green and low-carbon power supply capabilities.
The company is also increasing investment in network resilience and applying AI to telecommunications maintenance. Zhang said China Tower’s infrastructure and equipment are becoming visible, manageable and controllable through intelligent operation capabilities.
Looking ahead, Zhang said China Tower will continue upgrading its capabilities in location, computing, power, and security while accelerating the transition “from the pure telecommunications tower” toward digital and intelligent towers.
China Tower was formed in 2014, when the country’s mobile carrier China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom transferred their telecom towers to the new company. The three telcos decided to create the new entity in a move to reduce redundant construction of telecommunications infrastructure across the country.
