From "Selling Cloud" to "Selling Token": Telecom Operators Fully Join the AI Battlefield
From selling cloud services to tokens, operators fully join the AI battlefield. Major Chinese telecom operators—China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom—are launching AI token packages for personal, family, and enterprise use. This marks a shift from selling traditional services like voice and data to offering tokens as a new standard unit for AI service consumption.
Operators are transforming into AI service integrators, moving beyond their role as cloud providers. They are building an integrated structure that combines models, computing power, applications, unified billing, and security. By bundling various AI models, pooling heterogeneous computing resources, developing industry-specific agents, and leveraging their existing billing systems, they aim to lower entry barriers and simplify AI adoption for businesses.
The token model is becoming a key packaging method for AI services, moving beyond developer markets to the mainstream. Operators are positioning themselves as the essential infrastructure for the AI era, aiming to make AI a billable, manageable, and reliable utility similar to electricity or network services. However, challenges remain in ensuring model quality, cost reduction, and achieving sustainable commercial success. The ultimate goal is to make AI a measurable and scalable production factor for industries.
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