China Unicom allocates over 35% of 2026 capex to AI

China Unicom said in 2026 that it will allocate more than 35% of its capital expenditure to computing infrastructure as AI demand increases. The operator also said its AI-related revenue rose 147%, while its data center footprint reached more than 1.1 million cabinets and its computing capacity reached 45 EFLOPS.

China Unicom said the spending shift will reduce the share of capital expenditure going to other areas while increasing investment in AI infrastructure. The company gave three specific figures: more than 35% of 2026 capex for computing infrastructure, more than 1.1 million data center cabinets, and 45 EFLOPS of computing capacity.

This announcement shows a large telecom operator directing more network investment toward AI infrastructure and data center capacity. For the eSIM and telecom market, the update is part of a broader shift in which operators balance 5G spending with investment in cloud, data centers, and AI computing platforms.