How AI could put voice back at the centre of telco revenue

At MWC Barcelona 2026, GlobalData analyst Andy Hicks argued that voice still matters in the 5G era, but will only regain a central place in telco revenues if operators rethink how they use it. Instead of treating voice as a basic, low-margin commodity, he said AI can turn it into a smarter, higher-value service.

According to Hicks, AI-driven tools can improve call quality, detect fraud, automate customer support and enable new services built directly on spoken interaction. For telcos, that means using AI to personalise and secure calls, and to wrap voice into broader enterprise solutions, rather than chasing volume alone. Voice may not go back to its old billing glory, but with AI it could become a more profitable and strategic part of 5G networks.