How telcos generate AI revenue

Analysis of the Telco generative AI adoption tracker data shows that as of early 2026, more than half (54%) of all new announcements related to AI were linked to creating new products, services and solutions for enterprises or consumers.

AI-as-a-service: Implementations of AI in products (share of all telco AI projects by February 2026, n=768)

Source: STL Partners Telco GenAI adoption tracker, February 2026

Enterprise solutions – including infrastructure, platforms and applications – dominate telcos’ efforts, as this is where there is a clear short-term expectation of monetisation (this customer group includes also the public sector).

Consumer applications are still the minority. This likely reflects the difficulty of monetising AI in the consumer space, as well as some telcos’ expectations that other players will dominate the consumer AI market.

There is a small sliver of activity that targets both consumers and enterprise. This typically refers to more foundational efforts to build localised large language models, which can be used in various applications for different customer groups in future.

Telcos play along the AI value chain, but activities show a clear evolution towards infrastructure

Source: STL Partners

The report explores each of the six avenues for AI-related revenue generation with examples from telcos from around the world. It also includes some early disclosure from key telcos about the actual value they derive from AI. We will aim to update this report regularly when telcos start reporting more AI-related numbers.

The long-term vision of telcos’ place in the AI era is covered in our recent report  The telecom industry in the AI era: How telcos can follow the money