China's telecom giants are racing to turn artificial intelligence into the country's next mass-market utility by selling tokens, the tiny units of computing consumption that power AI models, in a sign that the country's operators are trying to transform themselves from bandwidth providers into AI service brokers.
State-owned telecom carrier China Telecom announced on Sunday a series of trial token plans, offering consumers monthly AI usage packages starting at 9.9 yuan ($1.37) for 10 million tokens.
China Telecom's new plans cover both consumers and enterprise users. Small businesses and developers can purchase enterprise packages with up to 150 million monthly tokens for 39.9 yuan. The packages resemble mobile data plans, except the commodity being metered is AI computation instead of internet traffic.
In parallel, China Mobile launched a universal token service in Shanghai for consumer and office scenarios, allowing users to access different AI platforms under a single account and pay through phone bills.
The carrier partnered with Tencent Holdings to introduce an AI-native workspace platform targeting consumers and small businesses. The service offers 400,000 tokens for 1 yuan, with users able to switch between AI models under a unified pricing structure.
