Telecom Digital Services: Creating New Revenue Streams Using Emerging Technologies

Telecom enterprises worldwide are leveraging emerging technologies to enhance customer experience and unlock operational efficiency in business processes. They are investing in 5G and edge computing to achieve higher connectivity speeds for new-age use cases such as remote patient monitoring and autonomous vehicles. Telcos are also doubling down on cybersecurity measures to comply with stringent regulations for customer data security. Lastly, they are evaluating the efficacy of generative (Gen) AI for optimizing horizontal and vertical business processes.

Both demand- and supply-side trends are covered in Avasant’s Telecom Digital Services 2024 Market Insights™ and Telecom Digital Services 2024 RadarView™,  respectively. These reports present a comprehensive study of digital service providers in the telecom industry, including top trends, analysis, and recommendations. The reports also closely examine the leaders, innovators, disruptors, and challengers in this market.

We evaluated 34 service providers across three dimensions: practice maturity, investments and innovation, and partner ecosystem. Of the 34 providers, we recognized 16 that brought the most value to the market during the past 12 months.

The reports recognize service providers across four categories:

• • Leaders: Accenture, Capgemini, HCLTech, Infosys, TCS, and Tech Mahindra
  • Innovators: Cognizant, IBM, and Wipro
  • Disruptors: Kyndryl, NTT DATA, Persistent Systems, and UST
  • Challengers: Atos, HARMAN Digital Transformation Solutions, and Virtusa

Figure 1 below from the full report illustrates these categories:

“Telcos must enhance the customer experience to maintain competitiveness and protect margins,” said Mark Gaffney, senior director at Avasant. “They are partnering with service providers, technology vendors, and start-ups to acquire capabilities in emerging technologies such as IoT, 5G, and Gen AI.” The reports provide several findings, including the following:

• • ​Telcos are heavily investing in 5G technology to unlock the full potential of B2B applications for their clients across healthcare, automotive, manufacturing, media, and entertainment.
  • They are leveraging edge computing to enable seamless connectivity for their end users.​ Edge computing enables uninterrupted connectivity in various scenarios, including enhancing the customer experience in stadiums and promoting autonomous transportation. ​
  • These companies are responding to the heightened demand for autonomous vehicles by enabling vehicle-to-everything communication, high-definition maps, and enhanced safety protocols.
  • Telcos are doubling down on cybersecurity to protect customer data​ in response to growing regulatory pressure around customer data protection.
  • They are also engaging in pilot/proof of concept projects to understand how Gen AI can unlock operational efficiency in business processes such as contact centers, route optimization for field workers, and recruitment. ​

“High bandwidth and low latency are table stakes for new age use cases like autonomous vehicles and remote patient monitoring,” said Sahaj Kumar, associate research director at Avasant. “Service providers must innovate in 5G, edge computing, and allied areas to support telcos’ digital transformation.”

The RadarView™ also features detailed profiles of 16 service providers, along with their solutions, offerings, and experience in assisting telecom enterprises in their digital transformation journeys.

This Research Byte is a brief overview of the Telecom Digital Services 2024 Market Insights™ and Telecom Digital Services 2024 RadarView™  (click for pricing).