All Aboard the Telco AI Hype Train? A Mobile World Live Panel Provides a Deep Dive

THE AI OPPORTUNITY FOR TELCOS

The panel kicked off with an industry overview from GSMA Intelligence's Peter Jarich, who highlighted the hype and the reality of AI for telcos. He showed some data from GSMA Intelligence research that indicated that while AI is a strategic technology priority for many operators, it is not as high as other technologies such as automation, open networks and 5G. Over a third of respondents in a GSMA Intelligence survey said GenAI was either very or extremely important as a strategic priority. But that ranked GenAI at the bottom of other priorities surveyed; for comparison, open networking technologies like Open RAN were seen as very or extremely important by 79% of respondents.

"They're still not quite on board that hype train," Peter said, pointing out that the commercial deployment of GenAI is still low, but the testing and trialing is high. That suggests that operators know the technology is important, but they're still figuring out how to leverage it effectively.

But there are use cases already yielding benefits, according to the panel. Chad Dunavant gave an example of how CSG uses AI to engage with customers and help them understand their bills, which reduces calls to the contact center, speeds up time to payment and fosters a better customer relationship.

"It was important for us to think about the kinds of data that we have in our possession that we've worked with our customers on that we can actually train these models with to drive value," Chad said.

Lasha Tabidze explained VEON's vision for AI. The Dutch telecom, he said, seeks to augment the skills and competencies of their customers, rather than just delivering data or digital services.

"We ought to offer to our customers a better version of themselves. … Like creating local language copilots for the communities to create better doctors, better teachers, better parents, even better bankers or better farmers," Lasha said.

Abhishek Sandhir described how Sand Technologies is working with operators in Africa and Asia to optimize their capex and opex, using AI and ML to find markets and match them with the best technology for ICT service provision. By combining fixed wireless access, fiber to the home, and satellite, telecoms can use AI to produce an ideal mix of last-mile access solutions, taking into account cash flows, revenue generation, income levels and other factors.