China Tower is moving beyond its traditional tower business. The company now wants towers to support smarter digital infrastructure across China.
At MWC Shanghai 2026, chairman Zhang Zhiyong outlined the company’s next phase. He said towers must combine connectivity, computing, energy, security, and data services.
“Artificial intelligence has already become the leading force for the new round of technology revolution, as well as the industry revolution,” Zhang said.
The shift reflects a wider telecom trend. Tower sites no longer only host radios and antennas. Operators now want them to support edge computing, backup power, monitoring, and automation.
China Tower has a scale few companies can match. It operates about 6.2 million base station sites nationwide. This includes 3.26 million 5G sites across China.
That footprint also covers major transport routes and large service areas. According to the company, its infrastructure reaches nearly 50,000 kilometers of transportation networks. It also covers around 16.4 billion square meters.
This scale gives the company a strong base for shared infrastructure. Shared tower assets can reduce duplicated construction and lower deployment costs. They can also speed up new service rollouts.
However, the model brings new operational demands. Digital towers need stronger software systems, better monitoring, and tighter cybersecurity. They also require skilled teams to manage mixed resources.
Zhang said the company is deepening resource sharing. It plans to combine location, computing, power, and security capabilities. This could help mobile operators, enterprises, and public agencies use the same sites.
The company also sees opportunity in the low-altitude economy. This includes drones, unmanned aircraft, and related digital platforms. These platforms need communications, navigation, monitoring, inspection, and weather data.
China Tower is developing systems for context awareness and flight control. In simple terms, these systems help manage drone movement safely. They also support real-time decisions during flight operations.
Satellite integration forms another part of the plan. Zhang said terrestrial and satellite networks should grow together. “The ground-based as well as the satellite-based telecommunications network should be developed at the same time,” he said.
This approach could support wider coverage and better resilience. It may also help remote areas and transport corridors. Yet satellite-cellular coordination can create technical and regulatory complexity.
The company also highlighted future mobile network support. Its towers, fiber, equipment rooms, and backup power can support 5G-A. They may also support future 6G deployments.
Computing is another major focus. China Tower already provides server services to hundreds of customers. It also offers shared edge computing infrastructure.
“We can provide you the shared infrastructure for the edge and can contribute to the shared intelligent services,” Zhang said.
Around 250,000 towers have already become digital towers. These sites support environmental protection, emergency response, and land management. Energy upgrades also include solar, wind, storage, and low-carbon power systems.
Looking ahead, China Tower wants towers to become intelligent service hubs. The strategy could reshape tower economics and network design. It also shows how physical infrastructure is becoming digital infrastructure.
