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Beyond bandwidth: A strategic blueprint for telco AI
APAC telcos can pivot from connectivity to business outcomes by leading with industry-specific AI services, providing AI infrastructure and partnering with other industry players
In this series, we’ve examined how hyperscalers and systems integrators (SIs) are reshaping enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) across Asia-Pacific (APAC).
We’ve seen how SIs are winning by translating cloud capabilities into industry outcomes, and how telcos like Singtel, China Telecom, and SK Telecom are using infrastructure to stay relevant.
In the final part of this series, we present a blueprint to help telcos move beyond bandwidth and into business outcomes by adopting a strategic blueprint built on three levers: Lead, Enable, and Orchestrate.
Lead by delivering vertical AI services
Leading means taking ownership of enterprise outcomes. Telcos that lead combine data, edge assets, and industry expertise to deliver vertical solutions, such as predictive maintenance for manufacturing; real-time analytics for logistics; and compliance-ready AI for finance and healthcare.
Examples include SK Telecom, which has applied AI to healthcare monitoring and smart city management, delivering actionable insights directly to enterprises, as well as Singtel, which has combined Nxera’s AI-ready infrastructure with NCS’s services to support smart mobility and urban analytics.
Leading requires investing in domain expertise, embedding into customer operations, and translating technology into tangible business results. It positions telcos as indispensable partners, countering the SI-led value capture highlighted in the first and second parts of the series.
Enable through AI infrastructure
Owning infrastructure allows telcos to support AI adoption while maintaining strategic control. Infrastructure becomes a lever for relevance, sovereignty, and monetisation.
APAC telcos that have done this successfully include China Telecom’s Xirang, which is hosting a 177-billion-parameter large language model across 500km of network, delivering low-latency, sovereign AI services.
Another example is SK Telecom, which has a sovereign AI cloud and graphics processing unit (GPU)-as-a-service offering that lets enterprises run AI workloads at scale while meeting compliance requirements.
Finally, there’s Singtel’s Nxera, which offers AI-ready datacentres optimised for latency, density, and sustainability, supporting both hyperscaler and enterprise workloads.
Infrastructure enables capabilities hyperscalers cannot replicate locally, opening new business models such as compute-as-a-service, edge AI, and enterprise-grade platforms. This addresses the infrastructure gap discussed in part three of this series.
Orchestrate via partnerships and ecosystems
Telcos cannot capture all the enterprise value alone. Orchestrating partnerships with hyperscalers, SIs, and ecosystem players amplifies impact without overextension.
Examples include Japan’s KDDI, which is co-developing AI-enabled 5G solutions with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for smart factories and Singapore’s NCS, which is working with Microsoft and AWS to deliver contextualised AI services across sectors.
Orchestration requires clear operating models, defined roles, and value-sharing mechanisms. It ensures telcos remain central to enterprise transformation, even if they do not own every component. This directly counters the $43bn SI heist discussed in part two of this series.
Supports the Deliver posture
Telcos have long held the keys to enterprise transformation: rich datasets, edge assets, and trusted relationships. The opportunity now is to combine these with AI to deliver industry-specific outcomes.
The APAC advantage
APAC telcos are uniquely positioned to lead this transformation. In China, national AI strategies are driving telco–hyperscaler cooperation. Japan and Korea have benefited from mature SI ecosystems. Singapore offers a balanced model, with Nxera providing infrastructure and NCS delivering services. Telstra’s pivot from building its own cloud to forming strategic partnerships reflects a broader truth: collaboration often unlocks more value than competition.
Executive checklist: The Telco AI readiness framework
To succeed in the AI era, telcos must align posture, infrastructure, and partnerships around enterprise outcomes. Use this checklist to guide execution:
- Choose your strategic posture: Lead, Enable, or Orchestrate
- Assess your infrastructure: Ensure it is AI-ready, scalable, and sovereign-compliant
- Map your ecosystem: Identify hyperscaler and SI allies, and clarify your unique value
- Target verticals where you have unique data, edge presence, or customer relationships
- Build a roadmap that aligns AI capabilities, infrastructure investments, and partnership strategies to business outcomes
Closing thoughts
In the AI era, telcos that stop at bandwidth risk commoditisation. Those that align infrastructure, ecosystems, and outcomes will move from pipes to platforms and become indispensable partners in enterprise transformation.
Edwin Lin is principal consultant at Omdia, part of Informa TechTarget
