Sagar Nangare

February 13, 2025

5 Minutes read

Strategic Collaborations Between Telecom and AI Giants: Key Takeaways and Roadmap

With MWC 2025 approaching, the telecom industry is eager to witness the latest strategic announcements and advancements in AI integration. AI-powered transformation is expected to be a key theme, generating significant buzz at the event.

Over the past year, LLMs have made significant strides, reshaping telecom and redefining the broader digital infrastructure. Their impact is already evident in consumer-facing applications and emerging business operations. Recognizing this potential, telecom operators are accelerating their adoption of LLMs. While AI was traditionally used as an add-on for specific operational tasks, telcos now embed it at the core of their business, from customer interactions to network automation.

Collaborations between leading LLM providers—OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and Perplexity—and telecom operators have highlighted a shift toward AI-first business models. These partnerships are about integrating AI and leveraging it to reduce network operation costs, improve efficiency, and optimize overall performance. However, this transformation is unfolding cautiously, step-by-steply, given the concerns around AI’s potential risks and regulatory scrutiny, especially in telecom.

However, it has faced scrutiny, with major Silicon Valley tech giants preparing to respond to its rise. People will closely watch its role in AI discussions at upcoming industry events..

Reflecting on the past year’s developments in LLM and telecom collaborations, I have analyzed key partnership patterns and formulated takeaways for the future. It will be interesting to see how these insights hold up post-MWC 2025 and how the industry continues to evolve.

Patterns of Collaboration

Strategic Partnerships and Investments

SK Telecom has partnered with Perplexity and Anthropic, investing significantly in developing customized AI solutions for the telecommunications industry.
Telefonica and Wayra have invested in Perplexity, indicating a trend where telecom operators are not just customers but also investors in AI technology.

Service Integration and Customer Experience Enhancement

Perplexity is being integrated into services offered by SK Telecom, Softbank, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, and Singtel, providing AI-driven search and personalized assistant products.
OpenAI is collaborating with Rakuten, T-Mobile, and Orange to create AI solutions for customer service, network optimization, and predictive maintenance, enhancing overall customer experience.

Exclusive and Premium Offerings for Customer Retention

Vodafone and Verizon are offering Gemini (Google’s AI) as part of premium subscription plans, indicating a move towards monetizing advanced AI capabilities through exclusive services.
Freemium Models: Telecoms like SK Telecom (Perplexity) and Singtel bundle free LLM access (e.g., Perplexity Pro) to retain users and enhance loyalty.
Premium Upselling: Operators like SoftBank and Verizon monetize AI via subscriptions (e.g., Gemini Advanced with Google One), targeting high-value customers.

Global Reach and Market Expansion

Collaborations with major telecom operators like Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, and Vodafone show a clear strategy to expand AI services globally, leveraging the extensive user bases of these operators.

Strategic Investment

Equity Stakes: SK Telecom’s $100M investment in Anthropic and Telefónica’s Wayra funding Perplexity signal long-term bets on AI as a core differentiator.

Key takeaways

a) AI as a Competitive Edge

Telecoms are no longer just connectivity providers—they’re becoming AI platforms. Partnerships with LLM leaders allow them to:

Enhance CX: Chatbots (Orange-OpenAI), personalized recommendations (Perplexity-SKT), and churn prediction (T-Mobile-OpenAI).
Optimize Networks: Predictive maintenance (Rakuten-OpenAI) and 5G efficiency (Singtel-Perplexity).

b) Ecosystem Lock-In

Telecoms risk creating siloed ecosystems by aligning with specific LLM providers (e.g., SKT-Anthropic, Verizon-Gemini). It could lead to vendor dependency but also foster exclusive innovation.

c) Hybrid Innovation

Combining telecom infrastructure (5G, broadband) with LLMs unlocks new use cases:

Real-Time AI
Perplexity’s integration with SKT’s AI assistant delivers instant search via 5G.
Voice-First Interfaces
Orange’s focus on OpenAI voice capabilities hints at replacing traditional IVR systems.

Roadmap ahead

Expansion of AI Capabilities: As AI technology continues to evolve, we can expect further expansion of AI capabilities within the telecommunications sector. It includes more sophisticated AI-driven customer service, network management, and personalized user experiences.
Vertical AI Models: More telecom-specific LLMs (e.g., Claude for telcos) will emerge, trained on proprietary network and customer data.
Increased Collaboration and Investment: The trend of telecom operators investing in AI companies and forming strategic partnerships is likely to continue, fostering innovation and accelerating the adoption of AI in the industry. SK Telecom’s Global Telco AI Alliance model will expand, creating shared LLM platforms (e.g., a “GPT for Telcos” accessible to smaller operators).
Global Standardization and Integration: With significant telecom operators across different regions adopting AI, there may be a move towards global standardization and integration of AI services, ensuring seamless user experiences worldwide.
Focus on Data Privacy and Security: As AI becomes more integrated into telecom services, there will be an increased focus on data privacy and security, ensuring that user data is protected while leveraging AI capabilities.
AI-Driven Network Autonomy: LLMs will manage self-healing networks (e.g., resolving outages autonomously) and dynamic resource allocation (e.g., optimizing bandwidth for IoT).
Hyper-Personalization: Operators will use LLMs to predict individual user needs (e.g., suggesting travel roaming plans based on calendar events).

In summary, the adoption of LLMs in telecom represents more than a technological advancement—it marks a significant shift in how operators optimize networks, enhance customer interactions, and boost efficiency. This trend is set to dominate upcoming telecom events, particularly MWC 2025. Strategic partnerships with AI leaders like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity underscore the industry’s dedication to AI-driven transformation. It will be exciting to see the innovations that emerge and how they align with my proposed roadmap.