China Mobile – Autonomous networks case study
Welcome to this series analysing network autonomy efforts by leading telcos worldwide. In this first edition, we put the spotlight on a successful operator journey coming from China.
Research
Defining the future telco — and what it means for operators and their partners
Drinking the orange juice at Insights 2025
Appropriately beginning in a cinema room at Pathé Palace in Paris, Orange Insights 2025 set the stage for blockbuster discussions, led by the enterprise arm of an operator emblematic of an industry in the midst of profound change. In this report, we present four key themes from the event.
StarHub Cloud Infinity – SaaS case study
Welcome to this series analysing innovative B2B offerings by leading telcos worldwide.
In this first edition, we turn our focus to a successful software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering coming from Singapore.
Sovereign AI: A strategic playbook
As the strategic importance of sovereign AI grows, so do opportunities for data centre operators. This report shares the findings from a recent STL Partners webinar on the topic.
Why edge-native platforms are the future of computing
This is a series of two reports exploring the potential for edge-native architectures and how they can bring new monetisation opportunities for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
Did the telecom AI era dawn in Copenhagen?
DTW Ignite 2025 showed a telco industry that is truly embracing AI and trying to use it as a platform for accelerated transformation. We hope it succeeds.
Datacloud Global Congress 2025: Five takeaways
The data centre industry stands at an inflection point: poised for rapid AI-driven growth, but only if it can navigate key challenges.
Mobile network APIs: Building successful commercial models
To successfully commercialise APIs, the telecom industry must reach new customers – application developers – and sell significantly different services than traditional voice and data. We outline how telcos can meet developers where they are and identify strategies for operators to maximise their share of value creation from API capabilities.
Private network sites forecast 2024–2030
This research note presents STL Partners’ forecast for the number of active private network sites over a 7-year period. It details site numbers across seven regions and acts as a complement to our Private network market forecast 2024–2030.
Mobile network APIs: The opportunity beyond anti-fraud in financial services
Telcos leading the development of mobile network APIs must set strategies now to scale the market beyond the first wave of customers and use cases. We explore three potential pathways for growth: courting new customers, creating new capabilities and a combination of both.
Cloud-native evolution: Unlocking CSP transformation
As CSPs transition into the Coordination Age, they face critical challenges in adopting cloud-native architectures and transforming operational models to meet the demands of enhanced connectivity and resource optimisation. This report provides practical strategies to navigate these challenges, with a focus on simplifying RAN transformation, enabling agility and unlocking new opportunities for innovation and growth.
How well do telcos work together?
As telcos team up to expand into new markets, what are the key lessons from existing joint ventures?
Not all telcos need to build their own AI factories
Recently, several telcos made the news with AI factory initiatives. We outline the reasons and the approaches to these investments.
Private network market forecast (2025 update)
This report presents quantitative analysis of the global demand for private networks over a 7-year period. We explore the revenue trends across the value chain and provide insights into different deployment models and technologies across 14 verticals.
Tariffs and telcos: Uncertainty and long-term moves
No one can foresee how and when import tariffs will stabilise – but some
long-term implications are starting to arise.
Total addressable market for AI solutions in the mobile telco network and OSS: USD18bn by 2030
Mobile operators have used intelligence in their networks and OSS for a while. What has changed recently is how new techniques (e.g., generative AI and/or agentic AI) can be applied, often on top of traditional methods, to accelerate the use of AI in the network domain and move telcos along their journey to higher levels of network autonomy. This forecast estimates the value for vendors of selling AI-enabled solutions to mobile operators to support their network and OSS processes.
Telco cloud deployment tracker Q1 2025: The various flavours of open RAN
Most large-scale deployments of virtualised RAN (vRAN) at Tier 1 telcos are currently based on single-vendor architecture. But operators are deploying vRAN in innovative ways that aim to preserve many open RAN benefits. This report looks at the current status of vRAN and open RAN deployments as well as the increasing awareness of the importance of deploying cloud-native RAN across multiple containers-as-a-service (CaaS) layers.
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