STL Partners has released two reports that dig into the usage and monetization aspects of artificial intelligence (AI) for broadband providers.
The first, entitled “AI in Telecoms Networks: The State of Play in 2026,” featured the results of a global survey that sought to understand adoption of AI in telecom operations and the impact of these capabilities on cost savings and new service launch and revenue.
The key finding was that using AI for operations is the biggest return on investment (ROI) winner for telcos. Twenty-two percent cited cost savings of greater than 10% in this area. Customer experience followed, with 20% citing cost savings greater than 10%.
“At the surface level, this suggests that AI adoption in operations delivers much stronger ROI for telcos,” research director Amy Ameron said in a post about the report. “However, measuring the financial impact of AI in CX/BSS is notoriously difficult, and often materialises as improved customer retention rather than lower absolute costs. It is therefore possible that the ROI in CX/BSS is also under-represented in this sample.”
There still is a lot to learn about the cost impact of AI; the report says that 25% to 30% responded “I don’t know” in each domain.
This lack of certainty, the post said, may mean that ROI cannot yet be measured. This could pose a risk for long-term investment.
The second report was entitled “How Telcos Generate AI Revenue.” It is based on the findings of STL Partners’ Telco generative AI adoption tracker, which provides a detailed list of telco activities related to AI.
Infrastructure, platforms, applications and other enterprise solutions dominate telco initiatives, because there is a “clear short-term” expectation of monetization in those areas.
While the STL Partners reports represent AI efforts by telecommunications companies around the globe, Telecompetitor recently completed its 2026 Rural Broadband State of AI Study, focusing on how rural providers in the U.S. are using AI. Registration for the webinar is now open.
In February, NVIDIA released a report that found network automation is the top use case for AI and that ROI will be driven by the integration of generative and agentic AI.
