This June 2025 has seen telcos across the globe accelerating AI integration—transforming network management, customer support, and industrial collaborations to capture new value streams and operational efficiency.

Strategic AI Partnerships for Network Cloud and Infrastructure

Deutsche Telekom inked a partnership with Nvidia to build an AI cloud for European manufacturers, installing 10,000 GPUs in German data centres by 2026. This effort ties into Germany’s strategy to boost industrial strength and digital sovereignty  .

Meanwhile, TCS and Nvidia collaborated on “AI-native solutions” for telcos—using large models and digital twins to streamline network operations  . And Microsoft, at TM Forum DTW Ignite, showcased agentic AI tools using its Copilot Studio + Azure platforms to automate tasks like order-fallouts and customer plan updates  .

Agentic AI: Telcos Shift from Pilot to Production

Deloitte unveiled its Agentic AI Blueprint for the telecom industry—a framework meant to deliver end-to-end intelligent automation across network management, billing, and customer service. Deloitte estimates this could unlock roughly US $150 billion of value in the next five years ().

Industry narrative now embraces “agentic AI”—AI systems capable of reasoning, acting, and adapting—beyond just predictive ML, across both front- and back-end telco functions  .

5G‑AI Fusion & Private Networks

PLDT, speaking at Mobile World Congress Shanghai, stressed that combining 5G and AI is essential to maintain telco leadership—charting a course beyond pure connectivity into digital solutions, infrastructure enhancement, and workforce evolution ().

In the UK’s Thames Freeport, Verizon Business (with Nokia) began rolling out private 5G networks for industrial clients—supporting AI-driven maintenance, logistics, automation, and real-time analytics  .

Telecoms Capitalise on AI for Defence and Security

Orange launched a dedicated defence and homeland security division within its business arm—offering hybrid civilian/military networks, connectivity, AI, and cybersecurity solutions in response to rising European defence budgets ().

In Canada, Telus proposed acquiring full control of Telus Digital to streamline AI deployment and SaaS expansion, aligning with its C$70 billion five-year network and AI infrastructure investment  .

Workforce Transformation and Cost Management

BT Group is gearing up for potentially deeper job cuts—targeting up to 55,000 roles by 2030—as AI and automation reshape customer service and back-office operations. Its EE mobile division’s chatbot “Aimee” already handles around 60,000 interactions weekly ().

Edge‑to‑Core Intelligence and 6G Roadmaps

Academic initiatives underscore the rise of intelligent telecom infrastructure: TelePlanNet, an AI-driven tool optimises 5G base-station planning using LLMs and reinforcement learning  , while researchers explore integrated AI control across fiber and wireless for future 6G networks  .

Moreover, the nascent field of TelecomGPT, anchored by Europe-based efforts at Khalifa University, looks set to deliver LLM-powered telecom-specific agents, reinforced by GSMA-backed benchmarks unveiled at MWC 2025  .

Telcos are evolving from connectivity providers into AI-driven digital platforms—strengthening every layer from customer interactions to network orchestration.