Operators seek revenue gains after heavy AI investment
By Joseph Waring
Mobile operators across the globe are ramping their AI strategies with an eye to not only giving customers access to more sophisticated virtual assistants but using the technology to streamline operations, speed up product development, cut costs and drive new sales channels.
A recent GSMA Intelligence survey found more than half of global operators are allocating between 10% and 25% of their digital budgets towards AI, covering everything from data systems and large language models (LLMs) to customer service and network operations.
Tantra Analyst founder and principal Prakash Sangam told Insight the biggest impact of AI will be in automating operations, both within customer service, including marketing and sales, and in the network.
A key challenge is access to reliable and valid data, he stated, noting “although operators are sitting on a data gold mine, not all of it is a readily usable form, and they also lack a skilled workforce to quickly adopt AI”.
An additional obstacle is the risk-averse nature of operators, slowing their embrace of new technology for networks.
Sangam added energy saving is one of the use cases with the highest interest, with most of the action on shutting down MIMO layers and sites when not needed. “Virtual RAN and open RAN is proving to be the most fertile ground for this”.
Omdia senior principal analyst Nicole McCormick wrote in a research note operators are using AI-driven data analytics to identify potential customers for premium services and develop more targeted packages for new and existing users, creating bundling opportunities and boosting ARPU.
She added copilots can assist in the plan-building process, streamlining it and nurturing the right leads to help with design.
For call centres, McCormick noted virtual assistants and chatbots give agents support in generating more accurate responses faster, making them more productive and keeping customers happy.
INVESTMENT
One of many operators to have made significant moves to embrace AI in the last year is Australia-based Telstra.
In January 2025, it unveiled plans to set up a joint venture with consultancy Accenture to improve its AI capabilities and streamline operations, with the operator to invest AUD700 million (US$440 million) over the next seven years.
Telstra CEO Vicki Brady told Insight strategic partnerships are critical to its shared success.
“We’re partnering with technology leaders across the globe to accelerate our move towards being an AI- fuelled organisation, sharing best practices on ethical implementation,” the executive said.
Brady explained it is using AI to serve customers faster and more effectively through generative AI tools built in-house, as well as to pre-empt network issues and better design and deliver services.
For example, it uses AI to analyse more than a billion data points across its mobile network daily to identify and resolve issues before they impact customers.
“Our data and AI ambition goes well beyond introducing AI tools for our team. It goes to improving the core of what we do. We are working towards creating self-healing, resilient networks of the future.”
In South Korea, SK Telecom (SKT) CEO Ryu Young-sang kicked off 2025 with a message to staff warning of bleak market forecasts, while vowing to go beyond developing advanced AI agents for subscribers to ensure its AI initiatives lead to real sales growth.
A restructure was unveiled by the operator in December with a view to strengthening the competitiveness of its core telecoms and AI businesses. It is also on the cusp of abandoning metaverse platform Ifland to allocate more resources towards its AI strategy.
We are working towards creating self-healing, resilient networks of the future
Vicki Brady, CEO, Telstra
SKT is pushing for comprehensive cooperation with big tech, LLM developers and third-party apps for implementation and expansion of AI assistant Aster
THREE-PRONGED STRATEGY
Head of SKT’s Global Personal AI Agent division Chung Suk-geun (pictured) said the company is accelerating its transition into an AI company by focusing its capabilities on AI data centres, AI contact centres and developing its own LLM.
Chung explained that while investment and interest in AI technology is increasing rapidly, clear revenue models and use cases are still in the early stages. “SKT has a vision to overcome these limitations through AI infrastructure and ecosystem creation, to create large-scale economic effects in the long term, and to contribute to the overall industry.”
SKT is also pushing for comprehensive cooperation with big tech, LLM developers and third-party apps for implementation and expansion of AI assistant Aster.
Chung added collaboration will play an important role in its entry into the global market and ecosystem expansion, citing its work as part of the Global Telco AI Alliance.
INTEGRATED APPROACH
Meanwhile, a representative from KT told Insight it is working on AI-integrated network support systems.
These are expected to provide know-how for managing network gear software in an interactive way and assist in the physical operation of equipment to ensure efficiency in network management tasks and service stability.
The operator is also developing industry-specific customised AI agents based on Microsoft Copilot Studio and Azure AI Foundry for B2B clients in a range of sectors, including education, healthcare, automotive and enterprise.
KT is considering lining up additional global partners to enhance competitiveness in AI and cloud for joint ventures, the representative stated.
An NTT Docomo spokesperson highlighted two use cases demonstrating how AI has contributed to improving customer service quality and operational efficiency by enabling it to use data previously un-analysable using human effort.
The Japan-based operator’s proprietary customer insight engine, Docomo Sense, contributed JPY16 billion ($104 million) in revenue in fiscal 2023 (to end March 2024) by promoting the use of additional services, encouraging merchant participation and supporting external partners in customer analysis and promotional advertising.
The operator also uses AI for anomaly detection in its network operations, detecting events that were difficult to identify with traditional alarm monitoring and leading to improvements in service quality.