China Telecom General Manager Liu Guiqing: Over 1.54 million 5G base stations have been shared with China Unicom. The innovation of 6G standards and network deployment must consider the rapid development of AI.

During the World Mobile Communications Conference in 2026, Liu Guiqing, the General Manager of China Telecom, attended the conference and delivered a keynote speech titled "The Transformation Path of Large Operators to Key Drivers in the AI Era." Liu Guiqing believes that in the process of promoting the commercial use of 5G networks, how to achieve industry synergy and promote green sustainable development is a question that global operators have always pondered. China Telecom and China Unicom have jointly explored 5G co-construction and sharing, breaking through a series of world-class technical and engineering challenges, and have built the world's first and largest 5G SA co-construction and sharing network, providing valuable experience for the global scale deployment of 5G. The two parties have already shared more than 1.54 million 5G base stations and over 2 million 4G base stations, saving a total investment of $56.5 billion, reducing annual operating costs by $6.5 billion, and reducing carbon emissions by 13 million tons annually.