Telcos as AI providers: Offering AI-as-a-Service to enterprise clients

Telecom operators are trying to move beyond selling basic connectivity and position themselves as AI providers for business customers. As more enterprises look for ways to adopt AI quickly, telcos see a chance to package network access with AI infrastructure, platforms and tools in a single offer.

The idea is to let enterprise clients tap into AI services that sit close to the network, potentially reducing latency and easing integration with existing systems. Instead of buying raw bandwidth from telcos and separate AI solutions from others, customers could source both from the same provider, with the telco acting as a one-stop shop for connectivity and AI capabilities.