AI-Powered Low-Altitude Networking: Unlocking New B2B Growth for Carriers

The global ICT landscape is undergoing a profound shift. Traditional pipe models can no longer support the strategic ambitions of digital and intelligent transformation. Carriers are moving fast from being connectivity providers to key partners in digital and intelligent advancements across industries, driving the deep integration of AI with pervasive networks, computing cloud and network, and beyond. As they search for a second growth curve, the low-altitude economy — sitting at the intersection of technology, public welfare, and industry — has emerged as a promising new frontier for carriers to empower the real economy.

The low-altitude economy is transitioning from pilot exploration to large-scale, systematic growth. Central to this shift is low-altitude intelligent networking, the backbone of low-altitude infrastructure. The network integrates air-ground communications, and fuses communication, navigation, sensing, and management systems to serve all low-altitude domains. Its goal is to enhance airspace safety and efficiency through visualized, connected, accessible, and manageable services.

Trend insights: Strategic convergence of the low-altitude economy and carriers' B2B services

• The low-altitude economy is taking off, making digital infrastructure a necessity

  The low-altitude economy is a composite industry that integrates digital technologies with low-altitude space. Major economies around the world have incorporated the low-altitude economy into their national industrial strategies. For example, the U.S. continues to streamline the certification process for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL), Europe has built the U-space system for collaborative operations in low-altitude airspace, and many countries in Asia-Pacific have implemented regulatory sandbox pilots. Under the guidance of policies such as the Interim Regulations for Managing UAV Flight, and the Low-Altitude Economy Standards System Construction Guide, China has formed a four-pronged development pattern, featuring policy guidance, technological breakthroughs, scenario expansion, and capital support.

  With the surge in high-density, high-frequency, cross-regional, and multi-operator flight activities, the pain points of traditional communications — fragmented coverage, inadequate navigation precision, obsolete regulatory methods, and weak security — have become increasingly pronounced. Relying solely on conventional communication technologies and manual supervision can no longer meet demand. Consequently, purpose-built intelligent low-altitude networking has become the prerequisite for advancing the low-altitude economy.

• AI + Low-altitude intelligent networking, reshaping B2B service models

  In traditional B2B services, carriers focus on providing basic communication connectivity, with a single revenue model and limited value contribution. By integrating AI with low-altitude intelligent networking, carriers can harness mobile communication networks, distributed computing power, and trusted service qualifications to achieve three pivotal changes in service models, breaking free from the limitations of conventional approaches.

  First, intelligent network upgrade. By leveraging AI-enabled network capabilities such as 5G-A integrated sensing and communications (ISAC), intelligent beamforming, and dynamic interference coordination, carriers can effectively address the challenges of coverage holes and signal fluctuations in low-altitude communication. Next, intelligent upgrade of operations and supervision. By using AI algorithms to enable intelligent prediction of airspace traffic, dynamic planning of flight paths, autonomous scheduling of flight operations, precise identification of anomalies, and proactive risk warning, carriers can significantly improve the efficiency of low-altitude airspace operations. Lastly, intelligent upgrade of services. This shifts carriers' B2B services from standardized connectivity supply to scenario-based, operable digital and intelligent services. By building a full-stack solution that integrates infrastructure construction, platform operations, application enablement, and security assurance, carriers can fundamentally transform from selling bandwidth to selling capabilities, services, and value, comprehensively improving the added value and profitability of B2B services.

Policy guidance: Prioritizing existing resources and building a robust communication support framework

• Core orientation: Revitalizing existing resources, co-constructing and sharing platforms, and ensuring strict compliance

  The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and four other departments jointly released the Implementation Opinions on Strengthening the Capability Building of the Information and Communications Industry to Support the Development of Low-altitude Infrastructure. The document clearly defines the pillar role that the information and communications industry plays in the development of low-altitude infrastructure. The core orientation of the policy is very clear: Revitalizing existing resources, co-constructing and sharing platforms, and ensuring strict compliance. For carriers, this means fully relying on existing mature mobile communications network infrastructure, such as 5G and 5G-A, to quickly transform towers, computing equipment rooms, and optical fiber networks across the country into low-altitude service capabilities. This gives carriers a natural first-mover advantage in deploying low-altitude services with low costs and high efficiency. The policy explicitly places communication support in the scope of "strict compliance". This means that if a future low-altitude aircraft is not connected to the network-linked system, it will be like a car without a license plate and navigation system, and cannot legally take off.

• Suggestions: Policy compliance, efficient regulations, and technical collaboration

  To truly support the low-altitude economy, carriers need to build a comprehensive system encompassing policy compliance, efficient regulations, and technical collaboration: First, safety regulations and technological advancements must proceed hand-in-hand. Carriers need to promptly implement the "one device, one code, one number" identification system to tightly link each aircraft, SIM card, and carrier account. They must also actively engage in identity verification, communication binding, and tracking of low-altitude devices, enabling full lifecycle traceability and closed-loop management. This will elevate carriers from mere pipeline providers to strategic partners in low-altitude economic development. Next, carriers can spearhead the ongoing evolution of technology and equipment, bridging the gap between communication and radar systems, and integrating networks with devices. The future lies in the multidimensional fusion of ground mobile communication, satellite communication, and low-altitude communication, navigation, and monitoring. This integration will transform base stations into real-time detection centers for drone positions, speeds, and forms, ensuring seamless network mobility and ubiquitous sensing.

Core strategy: Leveraging resource and technical advantages to develop a unique competitive edge

Amid the development wave of the low-altitude economy, top-level policy guidance, and real industry pain points, China Mobile is seizing the opportunity, leveraging its core resources and advanced technology to break through development bottlenecks, align with top-tier policies, and forge a unique competitive edge in the market.

Figure 1: The "Four Drives, Two Wings" architecture for low-altitude intelligent networking

• Core architecture: "Four Drives, Two Wings" strengthen the foundation of low-altitude intelligent networking

  China Mobile has created a "Four Drives, Two Wings" architecture for low-altitude intelligent networking (as shown in Figure 1). This innovative structure leverages four core "drives" to bolster foundational capabilities and two "wings" to safeguard industry security, creating a comprehensive, closed-loop, and scalable system.

  The four core "drives" form the backbone of the architecture, integrating the terminal, network, platform, and application layers to create a robust, full-chain capability system. At the terminal layer, China Mobile leverages advanced communication and positioning modules, dedicated SIM cards, and SDKs to develop a full-chain and diversified terminal product matrix, ensuring trusted access and streamlined lifecycle management. The network layer drives innovation by establishing extensive low-altitude communication, high-precision navigation, and 5G-A ISAC networks, guaranteeing reliable connectivity, precise location and navigation, and real-time situational awareness. The platform layer offers a versatile low-altitude service hub that combines regulatory oversight with industry support, enhancing efficiency across sectors. Finally, the application layer targets key low-altitude economic scenarios like logistics, rescue, and inspection. By identifying shared requirements, China Mobile develops standard solutions and fosters a scalable B2B service model.

  The two "wings" of protection offer architectural support, safeguarding the operations and growth of low-altitude intelligent networking. The AI enablement wing, harnessing China Mobile's extensive computing network, foundation model technology, and industry algorithms, seamlessly integrates AI throughout low-altitude intelligent networking. This enables accurate target recognition, intelligent airspace traffic forecasting, dynamic flight path planning, autonomous operations, and effective anomaly management, elevating the intelligence of low-altitude operations. The security wing drives all-domain, multidimensional protection by constructing a comprehensive system for trusted terminal identification, secure communications, safe platform access, and application data protection, ensuring that every step of the low-altitude flight process is manageable, controlled, and traceable.

• Core advantages: Four core capabilities build industry competitiveness

  In the development of the low-altitude economy, China Mobile has formed four irreplaceable core advantages based on its resources and technological expertise.

  First, network resource advantage. China Mobile boasts the world's largest 5G/5G-A network and numerous tower sites. By reusing existing facilities for cost-effective reform, China Mobile can support both high-density flights under 300 meters and wide-area flights over 600 meters. The company sets industry standards in network coverage and construction speed.

  Second, regulatory compliance. Guided by China's national policy, China Mobile designed the "four-in-one" low-altitude networking supervision solution, seamlessly integrating pilots, drones, SIM cards, and control devices. This ensures lifecycle identification and closed-loop management of low-altitude aircraft, fully compliant with both government and industry regulations.

  Third, digital and intelligent advantages. Harnessing its comprehensive computing prowess and deep industry expertise, China Mobile has revolutionized conventional detection with AI-driven multi-modal technology. This innovation crafts an all-encompassing, all-weather, and highly accurate low-altitude security network, fortifying operational safety.

  Fourth, ecosystem collaboration. China Mobile has taken the lead in integrating upstream and downstream resources of the industry chain, and collaborating with equipment vendors, terminal enterprises, research institutes, industry customers, and local governments to advance technological standards, breakthroughs in core technologies, testing and verification optimization, and business implementation and operations. This collaboration fosters a cohesive development framework and sustainable industry ecosystem.

Practical cases: China Mobile and Huawei dive into low-altitude economy

China Mobile and Huawei have deepened their collaboration in the low-altitude domain. At its core are two technologies: 5G-A integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), and 5G-A + AI computing-network convergence. Together, they form a cloud-edge-device collaborative digital foundation for low-altitude operations. This foundation has been deployed across multiple pilot or commercial projects in Anhui, Guangdong, Henan, and other provinces in China, driving the large-scale application of "5G-A × AI" technology in scenarios such as low-altitude inspection, low-altitude security, logistics and delivery, and emergency rescue.

Multi-modal fusion for low-altitude monitoring and safety in Hefei: In Hefei, China Mobile followed national standards to coordinate the deployment of communication, navigation, monitoring, meteorological, and countermeasure infrastructure, creating a multi-modal fusion system for detection and countermeasures. By combining 5G-A with existing technologies — low-speed and small-target radar, electro-optical detection, and radio-based detection — the system actively identifies non-cooperative targets and supports countermeasure decision-making. The project now covers all key areas and critical low-altitude corridors across Hefei, ensuring safe and efficient operations for logistics, passenger transport, public services, and other typical low-altitude applications.

5G-enabled smart drone dispatch in Shenzhen: In the city governance domain, China Mobile helped the Public Security Bureau of Shenzhen build a 5G-enabled drone command and dispatch platform that unifies all drone resources under centralized management. Powered by the China Mobile Lingyun platform, the system breaks through beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) limitations and, by combining 5G with smart drone hangar technology, enables autonomous drone flights. This pushes routine patrol and inspection toward fully unmanned operations. As the first city-level pilot for unified 5G management of city governance drones, the platform has slashed equipment launch time to just three minutes and cut pilot costs by 50%, setting a benchmark for smarter urban governance and demonstrating the transformative value of technology-empowered public services.

Multi-modal fusion for low-altitude airspace protection by Nanyang Jiangying Airport: In the airport security domain, Nanyang Jiangying Airport deployed the multi-modal fusion sensing capabilities of the China Mobile Lingyun low-altitude management platform. The system combines 5G-A ISAC with radio, electro-optical, radar, and AI technologies, and integrates bird-dispersal equipment and waterlogging monitoring systems. Through a unified airport-wide situational map, it brings together all airport equipment, surrounding airspace intelligence, and device data onto a single pane of glass. This enables precise monitoring of two major safety risks: airborne "landmines" — drones, balloons, and bird flocks intruding into the airspace — and runway "killers" — waterlogging and foreign object debris (FOD).

Future outlook: AI drives foundation iteration and upgrades, opening up a blue ocean for B2B

Looking ahead, AI technologies will play an increasingly prominent role. China Mobile will focus on three core areas to propel low-altitude intelligent networking forward:

• At the technology level, China Mobile will continue to advance the evolution of network technology, driving the upgrade from 5G-A to 6G. By merging communication, navigation, sensing, and computing, China Mobile will push beyond technological boundaries, and build a highly autonomous, resilient, and fully integrated low-altitude intelligent network.
• At the scenario level, China Mobile will drive the full-scale upgrade of low-altitude applications, expanding from basic cargo transport and inspections to high-value sectors like passenger travel, urban air mobility, low-altitude cultural tours, and high-end logistics. China Mobile's reach will extend from peripheral areas like suburbs and campuses into city centers and across all airspace. Moreover, the company will evolve from isolated scenarios to integrated and collaborative ones, relentlessly uncovering new B2B opportunities.
• At the business level, China Mobile will continuously refine business models, transcending traditional project-based services to embrace diverse, sustainable options like foundation leasing, platform services, application subscriptions, and data operations. This shift will transform China Mobile's major revenue source from one-time payment to ongoing service income, fueling a new growth trajectory for its B2B offerings.

The low-altitude domain is not merely an extension of physical space, but a whole new dimension of digital transformation. China Mobile will bolster industries with advanced digital and intelligent infrastructure and drive innovation through cutting-edge technology. On its journey toward high-quality growth in the low-altitude economy, China Mobile will unlock new productivity and partner with all parties across the industry chain to shape a vibrant digital future in three-dimensional space.