Telco Reality Check 2025: Where Telco AI and 5G Service Revenue Is Really Flowing (and Where It Isn't)
Telco Reality Check 2025: Where Telco AI and 5G Service Revenue Is Really Flowing (and Where It Isn't)
After three years tracking every verifiable advanced telco AI and 5G services launch from the world’s top 15 Tier-1 operators and leading hyperscalers, one story stands out: the hype phase is over. Real revenue is emerging — but it's highly concentrated in a few enterprise corridors, and only a handful of operators are capturing it at scale.
Today, we’re releasing two new benchmark products, plus a bi-annual update service to keep them fresh:
Telco AI Services & Impact Tracker - CSPs & Hyperscalers: Q3 2025
Global 5G Services & Impact Tracker: Q3 2025
Here are some highlights from the data:
1. North America is leading 5G service innovation
Four operators account for 42% of all launches and average a Revenue Maturity Score of 83% - 30 points clear of Europe and 40 ahead of Asia-Pacific. The gap is structural: disciplined portfolios converting live services into customer-paid revenue.
2. Only three 5G domains actually pay
Private/Campus 5G, Live Events & Venues, and Enterprise-grade Network Slicing represent over 80% of monetized services. Consumer-facing pilots? Still red on the heatmap.
3. AI money follows the same pattern
Sovereign & Enterprise AI Platforms, Industrial/Vertical Services, and Customer Experience enhancements capture 60% of monetized telco-AI initiatives. Consumer GenAI chatbots? Fewer than five commercial services in three years.
4. Hyperscalers Are Telco AI’s Backbone
Hyperscalers provide the critical AI infrastructure that powers CSPs’ network transformation and edge innovation. CSPs hold the reins on customer-facing value - forging a symbiotic balance for sustainable AI scale.
5. AI and 5G are increasingly the same fight
AI is embedded in 30% of monetized 5G services and drives the highest revenue maturity scores when present. The flywheel is turning — just not yet at consumer scale.
The revenues today are modest — low-single-digit millions per deal — but they’re real, recurring, and defensible. More importantly, operators active in these proven corridors are building expertise and ecosystems that will compound when enterprise demand accelerates.
Both reports and databases - built on transparent, rule-based scoring and independent analysis - are available now.