China Telecom Partners Bridge Alliance to Offer Regional M2M/IoT Services

Hong Kong, 30 October 2017 – China Telecom signed an IoT business
partnership agreement with Bridge Alliance, enabling China Telecom to provide
Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine to Machine (M2M) services to multinational
enterprise customers across Bridge Alliance’s footprint.

Bridge Alliance is a leading mobile alliance
covering 34 countries or regions in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa.
According to independent research and advisory firm Analysys Mason, Bridge
Alliance is one of the best-positioned operator groups to provide enterprise
mobility services to corporations in Asia Pacific.

This non-exclusive partnership comes at an opportune
moment, where Asia Pacific is riding high on the IoT momentum. The region,
excluding Japan, is forecasted to be the IoT investment leader, with an
expected spend reaching $455 billion in 2021.[1]

The agreement leverages Bridge Alliance’s
technical and commercial capabilities to provide homogenous solutions across
its footprint. This enables China Telecom’s customers to apply a ‘glocalised’
approach tapping on the simplicity of one single integration with China Telecom
and the full support and service quality of local networks in Bridge Alliance.

Similarly, Bridge Alliance members can now
extend their IoT services to China through China Telecom. As both
China Telecom and Bridge Alliance operators have deployed common connectivity
platforms, international enterprise customers can have the same experience when
deploying their solutions across the footprint of China Telecom and Bridge
Alliance. China Telecom will support different collaboration models with Bridge
Alliance members for such connectivity requirements into China.

“We are excited to join Bridge Alliance as a
business partner. China Telecom has a strong portfolio of multinational
enterprise customers who are looking to deploy their products and services
across the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions. Bridge Alliance is the
ideal partner to fulfil such requirements. Likewise, China Telecom is also
ready to support any inbound opportunities from the member operators into
China. With the supporting common platform and the business opportunities
across these different regions, we are confident this partnership will be a
mutually beneficial and win-win business collaboration,” said Mr. Deng Xiao Feng,
Managing Director of Global Business Department of China Telecom.

“We are pleased and
excited about this partnership with China Telecom. With the growing China
market, the addition of China Telecom to Bridge Alliance’s network of partners
will certainly bolster our position to serve our global enterprise customers
better. We look forward to future collective wins and co-innovating with China
Telecom,” said Ms Eileen Tan, CEO of Bridge Alliance.

China Telecommunications Corporation (“China
Telecom”) is one of the largest state-owned telecommunication companies in
China, with a total registered capital of RMB220.4 billion. At present, the
size of China Telecom’s total assets exceeds RMB 700 billion, with annual
revenue of more than RMB 380 billion. Ranking 132nd in the 2016 Fortune Global
500, China Telecom was awarded the Most Honored Company, the Best Managed
Company in the Asia Telecom Sector, as well as the Best Managed Company in Asia
by esteemed international institutions for consecutive years.

With the world’s largest broadband Internet
network and a leading-edge mobile network, China Telecom is capable of
providing cross-region, fully-integrated information services to global
customers through its sound customer service channel system. Its comprehensive
service capability has earned China Telecom a large customer base. By the end
of 2016, the number of its broadband Internet subscribers exceeded 144 million,
mobile subscribers exceeded 215 million, and fixed-line subscribers exceeded
132 million.

To drive corporate transformation, China
Telecom has rolled out Transformation 3.0 strategy with a focus of upgrading
intelligent network, service ecosystem and smart operation for the digital
ecosystem. China Telecom will strive to become a leading comprehensive
intelligent information service provider, with the aim of becoming a
powerhouse in the Internet and cyber realms in order to serve the society and
enhance people’s wellbeing.

Bridge Alliance is the leading mobile alliance
for premier operators and their customers in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and
Africa. Our alliance covers 34 members who serve more than 800 million
customers collectively across these regions. Our goal is to build group
capabilities and create value for our members by enabling compelling roaming
services and experience, offering multi-market enterprise and IoT solutions,
and delivering savings and benefits through leveraging group economies.

Bridge Alliance’s members include: Airtel
(India, Sri Lanka and the Airtel subsidiaries in Africa: Chad, Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi,
Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia),
AIS (Thailand), CSL Mobile (Hong Kong), CTM (Macau), Globe Telecom
(Philippines), Maxis (Malaysia), MobiFone (Vietnam), Optus (Australia), Singtel
(Singapore), SK Telecom (South Korea), STC (Saudi Arabia), SoftBank Corp.
(Japan), Taiwan Mobile (Taiwan), Telkomcel (Timor-Leste), Telkomsel (Indonesia),
Turk Telekom (Turkey), and Viva (Bahrain and Kuwait).

For more information,
visit www.bridgealliance.com.

[1]  International Data Corporation. (2017, June 14). Worldwide
Spending on the Internet of Things Forecast to Reach Nearly $1.4 Trillion in
2021, According to New IDC Spending Guide. Retrieved from https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS42799917