According to a report by KPMG, 97 per cent of the global telecom carriers are either assessing or adopting artificial intelligence (AI), while 49 per cent have already embedded it into their daily operations. Meanwhile last year, only 41 per cent of global telcos were using AI in their operations, the study noted.
The report highlighted how agentic AI can transform the telecom sector by enabling intelligent networks, predictive maintenance, hyper-personalised customer engagement, and real-time service orchestration. It also points out key challenges such as the complexity of integrating autonomous AI systems, the need for strong AI governance, and the urgency to upskill workforces for effective collaboration with intelligent agents.
Meanwhile, agentic AI, seen as an evolution of generative AI, is expected to drive autonomously self-healing networks, predictive churn management, and hyper-personalised customer experiences.
The study found that 65 per cent of global telecom companies plan to increase their AI investments in 2025, focusing on AI-ready infrastructure and workforce development. Business leaders intend to allocate around $25 million to technology talent and $24 million to customer experience initiatives over the next year to capture the benefits of AI.
The report further noted that the country’s vast telecom ecosystem offers unmatched scale and data richness for AI innovation. In addition, average mobile data consumption per user in India has surged to about 32 GB per month, among the highest globally. The sector’s financial health is also improving, with average revenue per user rising to Rs 174.46 per month and wireless data revenues growing 15.5 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2.15 trillion in 2024-25.
