On April 24, China Telecom released its first-quarter 2026 report on the A-share market. During the reporting period, the company achieved operating revenue of RMB 131.4 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 2.32%. Service revenue reached RMB 122.7 billion, while net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company stood at RMB 7.4 billion, down 17.08% from the previous year.
The company's basic business operations developed steadily. The number of 5G network users reached 310 million, with the penetration rate rising to 71.3%. Total mobile internet data traffic increased by 17.7% year-on-year, while mobile internet DOU reached 23GB, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%. The penetration rate of gigabit broadband users reached approximately 34%.
In the first quarter of 2026, the company's operating costs were RMB 94.4 billion, down 0.5% year-on-year. Selling expenses amounted to RMB 13.4 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.6%; administrative expenses were RMB 10.1 billion, down 2.6% year-on-year; R&D expenses increased by 1.7% year-on-year to RMB 1.8 billion, primarily due to the company's accelerated efforts to build itself into a technology-leading enterprise and its continued push for breakthroughs in core and key technologies. Financial expenses totaled RMB 17 million, a sharp decrease of 80.4% year-on-year.