An exclusive report from informed sources reveals that, for the full year of 2025, 26 provincial branches of China Telecom failed to meet their scheduled revenue targets in the industrial digital ICT business. This underscores the significant challenges facing the development of this segment. It is understood that within China Telecom's industrial digital business development, the ICT business serves as a crucial component. This primarily encompasses industrial internet, smart manufacturing, smart agriculture, intelligent transportation, cloud computing, big data services, and Internet of Things applications. However, in 2025, only 5 provincial branches achieved their revenue targets according to the timeline, while 26 fell short. Among the branches that met the schedule were Qinghai Telecom, Ningxia Telecom, Zhejiang Telecom, Hunan Telecom, and Chongqing Telecom. Those severely underperforming included Inner Mongolia Telecom, Tianjin Telecom, Shandong Telecom, and Liaoning Telecom.

So why did so many provincial branches fail to meet their targets? Firstly, competition in the enterprise market among the three major telecommunications operators remains exceptionally fierce. Many provincial branches aggressively compete for the same projects, frequently engaging in price wars, which further compresses revenue and profit margins. Secondly, the scale of delinquent and bad debts within the enterprise segments of the three major operators continues to expand. Under these circumstances, pursuing aggressive expansion might not be advantageous.

In the view of industry experts, the development of enterprise services for operators should not prioritize "quantity" but rather shift focus to "quality." Moving from previous extensive growth to refined and meticulous development may result in unmet revenue targets in the short term. However, this approach could prove beneficial for future profitability.