China Telecom to build new AIDC

China Telecom will take a moderately forward-looking approach to building computing infrastructure, accelerating the development of next-generation AI data centers, Chairman Ke Ruiwen said at the company's AI ecosystem forum during the ongoing 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai.

The new AIDCs will be built to standards of high power density, high IT output, flexible construction, and flexible expansion, Ke said. The company is optimizing its AIDC footprint around China's eight hub nodes and has already built over 900 data centers with a total power capacity approaching 8 gigawatts, making it the country's largest AIDC service provider.

China Telecom will increase its deployment of domestically produced computing power and strengthen edge computing pools in key cities to improve single-node capacity and service capabilities, Ke added. The company is building an agile computing interconnection network with a new "eight vertical and eight horizontal" backbone optical cable network and accelerating the evolution of transmission links to 800G. It will also deepen gigabit optical network penetration and 5G-A deployment to enhance access capabilities. The carrier is exploring ultra-large-capacity and OCS all-optical networking to support large-scale clusters and improve training and inference efficiency.

The company also plans to increase investment in submarine cable resources to provide a secure, reliable network foundation for international AI cooperation. China Telecom's first domestically designed deep-sea intelligent cable-laying vessel, the Tianyi Pilot, was officially commissioned in Shanghai after successfully completing full-system sea trials. The vessel enables efficient submarine cable construction and maintenance, ensuring smooth data flow between computing centers and cross-regional token transfers.

Ke said China Telecom will continue to drive new industrialization with robust infrastructure, reinforcing its role as a backbone of the country's digital economy.