Rethinking growth: operator revenue diversification is real and global

Last month, China’s three major telecoms operators became the first to launch token-based AI plans, packaging AI usage in a way that resembles traditional mobile data bundles, signalling a broader push by operators to commercialise AI, cloud and compute capabilities. This reflects growing interest among operators in monetising AI by moving beyond internal AI efficiencies and towards commercial AI opportunities. The logic is simple – tap the surging interest in AI and put a meter on it – but the concept goes beyond just offering tokens for cash.

From a financial perspective, services beyond traditional core telecoms are now a key component of telco revenue growth. This report looks at how far major operators have progressed with revenues beyond traditional core telecoms, the operators leading in terms of revenue diversification and growth beyond connectivity, and the main trends and drivers of growth.

This edition of the Industry Checkpoint series focuses on digital industries, highlighting how the market has changed in the last six months and its implications. The report considers four major developments: major European operators intensifying their activity in sovereign digital services; product launches from chip vendors for AI data centres; how the mobile ecosystem is tapping into the growing physical AI market; and network API launches in the broader fintech space.