The Continuous Pursuit of Cost Efficiency in Telecom

The telecom industry is characterized by continuous transformation driven by the adoption of new technologies. The cycle of new technologies has accelerated (the 3G era lasted 10 years, the 4G era lasted six years, and discussions are ongoing about replacing 5G with 6G in three years). At the same time, these technologies—and current and future AI-related investments—have required a vast amount of CapEx, increasing pressure on telecom operators to continuing to transform with cost effectiveness. 

Additionally, as these new technologies are adopted, new use cases emerge that attract competitors to telecom operators (e.g., Google Fi MVNO service and anticipated Apple Satellite services in iPhones), necessitating agility and change sooner rather than later. These factors have made the pursuit of continuous cost efficiencies essential for telecom operators. Here are ways operators are looking for those efficiencies:

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CASE STUDY: Transforming Data Management for a Top Telecom Provider

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Where Telecom Operators Are Looking for Cost Efficiency 

Telecom operators are leveraging the following strategies to achieve cost efficiency:

• Looking for talent across the globe: With increased global connectivity, talent can contribute from anywhere in the world at significantly lower costs compared to on-premises talent. All major operators have established offices outside the U.S. to tap into the pool of engineers in hubs like India and Europe or nearshoring options like Brazil and Mexico, and they expect their partners to collaborate in these locations as well. These hubs aren’t just used for operational purposes, either. They’re used for innovation and complex work required by telecom operators. 
• Automation and AI technology: Automation platforms enhanced by AI agents enable complete workflows or tasks to be executed whenever the customer needs it. It’s important, though, to leverage specialists in building automations and implementing AI technologies. These experts will ensure the implementation of new technologies in a reasonable timeline—and cost efficiency. 
• Business process outsourcing: Telecom operators utilize strategic partners to handle non-strategic tasks. BPO partners attract and retain talent in specific niches where operators cannot scale or commit long-term. The initial network roll-out of new technologies like 5G requires substantial initial investment that cannot be sustained over time. Specialized partners build expertise at scale to ensure the best talent is available for a limited period. 
• Data consolidation: There’s an effort by telecom companies to centralize and clean up the vast amounts of data they have. This has resulted in investments in data lakes and warehouses, and investments in AI and automation should help make the cleaning and organizing of data happen faster and more cost efficiently. It’s also resulted in efforts to build better processes and tech around managing the data. See how Insight Global, for instance, helped a telecom company build a better platform for capturing crucial marketing data for its internal teams to leverage. On top of saving internal teams time in their day-to-day, the new data platform is estimated to save the company $1 million. 
• Cloud infrastructure: Where is all this data stored? On-prem cloud solutions have been phased out over the years for a more hybrid approach. Telecom companies have tried to spend their dollars more effectively with more hybrid and cloud solutions. With less hardware and physical space needed to store data, spending on storage should be more efficient. This can also help telecom companies with compliance and data privacy initiatives by providing a more secure data environment.

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Driving Cost Efficiencies for Telecom Customers 

As critical as it is for telecom operators to continuously identify cost efficiencies, most leaders are caught up in the day-to-day tasks. Planning strategies to drive cost efficiencies, much less enacting them, can be a challenge.  

At Insight Global, we know telecom, and we know the most effective ways to put the above strategies into place. Over the last 20+ years, we’ve placed 38,000 telecom experts and have built partnerships with key leaders in the telecom industry. We also go beyond staffing to provide services such as 24×7 customer support, network rollouts, AI applications development, and more. 

For more information about how Insight Global can help your company get more for your dollar, explore more about our telecom capabilities or fill out the form below to start a conversation today.