The Big Three Telecom Carriers · Full chronicle and history

Recently in Guizhou, a Douyin blogger posted a photo of a China Unicom promotional display board claiming that a one-time payment of 699 yuan entitles one to 400 yuan in medical insurance and 699 yuan in communication fees. In the comments section, netizens posted similar medical insurance discount coupon posters from China Mobile, and pasted an anti-fraud reminder reading “pay first and get cash back later is always a scam” as satire.

On October 3, Zheng Jiyan, a former employee of China Telecom, released a video in which he publicly accused several senior executives of the group of allegedly embezzling 38 million yuan in government funds in the National Industrial Internet Big Data Center project, saying that his internal reports since 2023 had gone nowhere and that his labor contract was terminated in August 2026. He questioned how a core software development contract signed just 13 days before the project deadline listed a workload of 33779 person-days, that all four bidding companies were wholly owned subsidiaries of China Telecom, and said he had submitted the report through the 12388 website and was willing to provide 18 items of original evidence. As of press time, China Telecom had not responded.

Reports indicate that starting September 24, the three major telecom operators have suspended financial installment phone purchase services and will no longer process new "0-yuan phone acquisition" transactions.

On August 21, 2026, China Satcom announced the launch of a consumer-grade satellite mobile data service, but its portable terminal and the lowest annual plan are priced as high as 27,999 yuan, with only 10GB of data per month, drawing criticism for being expensive.

The website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that Liu Nanyue and Guo Qi, former directors and deputy general managers of China Mobile Beijing Company, were placed under investigation on the same day.