The Strategic Role of Telecom Providers Across the AI Value Chain 2026

2.2 Strategic plays for the modern telco to protect the core connectivity business The modern telco pathway modernizes networks into cloud- and AI-native architectures, using AI to improve operational productivity and deliver predictable, experience-led performance. Anchored in standardized and vendor-agnostic designs, telcos can protect interoperability while monetizing differentiated, assured connectivity. This pathway is activated through four strategic plays: AI-first connectivity, data centre interconnect (DCI), AI- optimized colocation and dedicated networks. AI-first connectivity AI-first connectivity reflects a shift from core networks to immersive, experience-driven infrastructure for consumers, industries and enterprises. Foundational network performance – latency, uplink optimization and traffic optimization – facilitates advanced AI-native offerings, primarily through network slicing,8 supported by programmable networks and standardized application programming interfaces (APIs). As immersive experiences scale, telcos must innovate across access, radio and core network layers and build cloud- and AI-native networks to have a seat at the table alongside hyperscalers, device manufacturers and agentic AI providers. Services include prioritized uplink for real-time video, autonomous self-healing QoE for AI agents, and edge offloading to nearby compute nodes, although network and device readiness for these services may not be uniformly available in all environments today. Operators can expose these capabilities via developer portals or integrate them directly into enterprise connectivity bundles.Customer demand for performance-assured AI-ready connectivity exists across all segments, with use cases in the public sector (for instance, digital-twin cities and emergency response), in B2B (for high uplink and QoS use cases like video inferencing), and increasingly in B2C, where users expect seamless real-time translation, immersive media and personal-assistant experiences. Omdia forecasts that AI-enriched interactions will expand at approximately 120% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2030,9 underscoring the rapid rise of AI workloads and their increasing impact on global connectivity demands. Right to play is high, given telcos’ unique control over licensed spectrum, network slicing and granular telemetry data from real-time radio access network (RAN) performance, giving them unmatched visibility of network performance. This allows them to guarantee performance for AI workloads in ways that colocation and hyperscale providers cannot. Standards and industry bodies are converging on experience- and outcome-based charging as the logical monetization strategy for AI- first connectivity. TM Forum10 and 3GPP11 emphasize multi-dimensional, QoS-aware pricing, enabled by network slicing charging specifications and dynamic policy control (where customers pay for guaranteed performance or business outcomes rather than undifferentiated data volume). Today, many AI deployments in telecoms remain focused on internal efficiency and cost optimization, but GSMA analysis12 shows a growing shift towards external-facing commercial use cases, with AI-first connectivity supporting these emerging growth strategies. CASE STUDY 1 T-Mobile US Advanced Network Solutions delivering private network-like performance without the overhead In October 2025, T-Mobile US launched Edge Control and T-Platform as part of its Advanced Network Solutions portfolio. Edge Control uses the operator’s 5G advanced network with local breakout to deliver “private network-like performance without the overhead”, routing traffic locally into enterprise edge compute. The commercial pitch is explicitly mission-critical, low-latency connectivity for AI/edge applications across media, sports, entertainment and the public sector.13 The modern telco pathway modernizes networks into cloud- and AI- native architectures, using AI to improve operational productivity and deliver predictable, experience-led performance. The Strategic Role of Telecom Providers across the AI Value Chain 10