Network operators have struggled with maintaining a viable business model since the emergence of the internet. Money-making voice calls became just another data payload, alongside many other applications, including video. The demands on their networks grew exponentially, but revenues did not.
“Network operators became their own worst enemies at this point with the way they priced services,” explains Jerry Caron, GlobalData head of research and analysis for the company’s technology business. “They commoditised themselves.”
The emergence of AI is like “turning a new page” for telecoms, according to Caron referring to the growing demand for AI applications that requires the kind of connectivity drive and maintain this AI app boom. “This is finally providing the industry an opportunity to effectively monetise its assets—if they play their cards right,” says Caron.
As a result, Caron noted a positive atmosphere at MWC 2026 despite a backdrop of global geopolitical turmoil. AI is also transforming how operators run their networks. Great automation is finally delivering the operational efficiency required to balance the books.
“We’ve all been talking about AI and automation in telecoms for about ten years but it’s now happening and it’s a gamechanger. There is a cost to implementation, of course, but we are seeing real, tangible, visible progress on the overall lowering of operating costs,” says Caron.
Additionally, AI-driven network infrastructure management automation enables granular task-based pricing for AI applications. Replacing the old model of unlimited access for a flat fee, operators can potentially innovate with different pricing structures and services.
Blessing Makumbe, Ericsson’s vice president and head of cloud services and software for Northern Europe, agrees that the next era of AI for networks means that communications service providers are starting to realise tangible financial benefits.
Makumbe explains that these gains are coming from telecoms companies automating their infrastructure, with AI-powered, intent-driven operations delivering higher performance, improved spectral and energy efficiency, and substantial operational expenditure reductions across the network.
“By embedding the right AI model in the right place across radio, core and cloud, we are helping customers move toward fully autonomous networks that greatly enhance operational efficiency.
“And it’s this same foundation of automation that will enable communication service providers to offer differentiated services and capture new monetisation opportunities as demand for AI-driven applications continues to accelerate,” says Blessing.
