Citigroup: Chinese Telecom Operators Launch AI Token Packages, Introducing a New Revenue Growth Engine

China's three major telecom operators have reportedly launched Token (word token) package products targeted at C-end users. Citigroup stated that this shift brings potential valuation reassessment, as AI Tokens provide a new revenue growth engine against the backdrop of slowing growth in traditional businesses. This helps operators reposition themselves from traditional communication service providers to foundational AI infrastructure providers. Analyst Kyna Wong mentioned in a report that operators can leverage their nationwide networks to extend AI applications beyond the domains of large-scale cloud providers, directly reaching small and medium-sized enterprises and retail consumers. Operators have cost advantages and room for profit margin improvement; they possess extensive proprietary data centers and computing power resources, which reduce the marginal cost of deploying AI. If the large language models they develop can maintain competitiveness against top domestic models, they can capture the value of the entire AI technology stack, thereby significantly improving profit margins—not merely serving as a distribution channel.