Almost all telecom providers (97%) are adopting artificial intelligence (AI), including nearly half that are already deploying it, according to a new report from Nvidia, a provider of AI infrastructure and an emerging giant in the AI business.
“Many providers are coming out of proofs of concept into production,” said Chris Penrose, Nvidia’s global vice president of business development for the telco vertical, in a pre-briefing with Telecompetitor about the survey results to be released today.
Penrose also observed that “There’s a lot of talk about ‘Are we seeing real benefits from AI?’”
Several survey results suggest the promised benefits are materializing.
84% of global providers surveyed said AI has helped increase annual revenue. That’s a considerable increase from the 72% of respondents who gave that answer in a similar survey in 2023. And 77% of respondents said their companies are seeing decreased operating costs resulting from AI, up from 67% in 2023.
Nvidia Telecom AI Report
How are providers using AI to achieve these benefits?
“Customer care is still the top use case, but the network itself is becoming more important,” Penrose said.
44% of service providers said they are using AI for customer experience optimization, making it the number one area of investment in AI for telecom, according to the Nvidia telecom AI report.
But closely following that, 40% said they are deploying AI into their network planning and operations.
37% of providers said enhanced customer service was one of the top improvements that AI had generated, up from 35% in 2023. And 32% of respondents said AI had improved network operations, up from 26% in 2023.
Nvidia’s offerings are focused primarily on wireless service providers for now. But Penrose said there is strong interest in AI from all types of providers.
