HTSC·2025-07-08 09:38Investment Rating - The report maintains an "Overweight" rating for the telecommunications sector [6] Core Insights - The global telecommunications industry is experiencing steady demand growth, driven by emerging markets and increasing ARPU in regions like North America. AI is expected to bring transformative opportunities to the industry by enhancing operational efficiency and customer insights [1][4][12] Summary by Sections Global Telecommunications Development - The global telecommunications industry achieved a total revenue of 8.8 trillion RMB in 2024, with a year-on-year growth of 3.0%. The net profit attributable to shareholders was 834.2 billion RMB, reflecting a decline of 8.4% [12] - Revenue by region includes: Europe (2.2 trillion RMB, +4.9%), North America (2.4 trillion RMB, +2.7%), China (1.95 trillion RMB, +3.4%), Asia-Pacific (1.6 trillion RMB, -0.2%), Africa and Middle East (0.7 trillion RMB, +4.9%) [12] Market Observations - In North America and Europe, leading telecom operators are seeing steady user growth, while mobile penetration rates are high, resulting in low single-digit growth rates. In contrast, regions like India and Africa are experiencing rapid growth [2][17] - Fiber business is a significant growth driver, with AT&T's fiber revenue growing by 19% year-on-year in Q1 2025 [2] Profitability Trends - Profitability varies across regions, with Middle Eastern and North American operators showing strong profitability. The average ROE for major global telecom operators in 2024 was 15.66% [3][17] - Domestic operators in China have slightly lower ROE compared to the global average, but as 5G investments enter the recovery phase, profitability is expected to improve [3][17] AI Impact on the Industry - AI is transforming the telecommunications sector by reducing operational costs and enhancing customer service capabilities. For instance, Deutsche Telekom uses AI to monitor network performance and improve fiber deployment efficiency [4][22] - Companies like T-Mobile are leveraging AI to predict customer needs and enhance service offerings, improving customer satisfaction [4][22] Domestic Telecommunications Dynamics - In China, the telecommunications business revenue for the first five months of 2025 reached 748.8 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 1.4%. The average mobile internet access traffic per user reached a record high of 21.3 GB/month, up 14.9% year-on-year [5][57] - The three major operators in China are expanding their intelligent computing capabilities, with China Mobile achieving a computing power scale of 43 EFLOPS [5] Key Recommendations - The report recommends focusing on major Chinese telecom operators: China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, all rated as "Buy" or "Overweight" [9]