大胆尝试：转向科技公司，在B2B中用人工智能取胜

Taking the plunge:moving to tech-co to March 2025 The GSMA is a global organisation unifying themobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliverinnovation foundational to positive businessenvironments and societal change. Our vision isto unlock the full power of connectivity so thatpeople, industry and society thrive. Representingmobile operators and organisations across themobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, theGSMA delivers for its members across three broad GSMA Intelligence is the definitive source of globalmobile operator data, analysis and forecasts, andpublisher of authoritative industry reports andresearch. Our data covers every operator group,network and MVNO in every country worldwide GSMA Intelligence is relied on by leading operators,vendors, regulators, financial institutions andthird-party industry players, to support strategic Our team of analysts and experts produce regularthought-leading research reports across a range of We invite you to find out more at gsma.com www.gsmaintelligence.cominfo@gsmaintelligence.com AuthorsTim Hatt, Head of Research and ConsultingPeter Jarich, Head of GSMA Intelligence Contents 1. Tech-co ambitions predate AI, but AI accelerates them 2. Defining the shift from telco to tech-co 3. Outlook: continued momentum behind the shift to tech-co models Appendix: leader profiles11Zain11Telefónica12KT13Huawei14 1.Tech-co ambitions predate AI, Making good on 5G means diversifying The operating environment for telecoms operatorsremains challenging, with flat or low revenue growth,cost pressures and weak consumer confidence inmany high-income countries. Although 5G adoption from non-standalone (NSA) to standalone (SA) 5G The scenario is similar across the industry – evenin leading countries where 5G adoption has beenrelatively strong, such as the US and South Korea.The three largest US operators, for example, nudgedup revenue growth in 2024 from negative territory12 months before – but it is still only 1.5% on average.European and UK groups report generally lower The push into services has not yet been sufficient tomaterially affect overall growth. Cashflow marginsare therefore constrained, exerting pressure onnetwork investment for 5G upgrades and new builds.The telecoms sector is primarily an infrastructure Figure 1 Where is the growth? Mobile revenue growth for select operators (year-on-year) at all. Around a third would – but only by up to 10%.The most avid spenders of 10–20% more than currentmonthly spend are in the vanguards of China, SouthKorea and the US. However, survey aspirational biasmeans the actual propensity to pay is likely lower.Adjusting for this correction means the average The value proposition for 5G has included a mix offaster speeds and new capabilities under the umbrella Consumer survey data is telling, with eight majormarkets featured here: China, South Korea, Japan,Germany, France, Italy, UK and US. A key metric formeasuring the popularity of 5G services is consumerintent to migrate to 5G. In all the markets surveyed Figure 2 5G may be attractive, but consumers won’t necessarily pay more Willingness to pay more for a 5G subscription. Percentage of smartphone users. Base – Smartphoneusers who said they intend to upgrade to 5G when the service becomes available to them. Al’s influence and impact Survey data provides valuable insights in this regard.The largest operators have gone the furthest. Thisincludes AI deployed in the network for efficienciesin processing and power usage, AI in the service layerto improve customer experience, and AI worked intonew product lines. Small and mid-tier operators withlower market shares are also involved; around 30% of Momentum behind AI deployments in telecoms haspersisted into 2025, following a significant increasein 2024 as the technology’s utility and competitiveimplications became evident. It is now widelyacknowledged that AI is essential for companies Figure 3 The biggest operators are the early adopters of AI, but the whole sectoris involved 2.Defining the shift from telco to Overall principles Ambitions to transition to a tech-co operating modelare not a new phenomenon. It has been a topic invogue for several years as a solution to the 5G-era not acknowledging the realities of telecoms being aninfrastructure sector with a high fixed cost base. Thismeans we should be clear on what the transition to Table 1 shows the key aspects to consider in any telcoto tech-co move, split into four categories. The concept is simple: move to a more agile and slimbusiness model, and diversify to drive growth. The What changes in the shift to a tech-co In terms of changes, it is important to distinguishbetween general moves we would expect to see aspart of a tech-co transition, and inevitable variationin how those moves are implemented depending —An agile and software-driven network leveragingAI, and monetised through marketplaces —Upweighting of R&D and concurrent shortening of —A