Telcos and network operators are allocating more resources to in-house and out-of-house artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and projects, but only a subset are spending more than 15% of their digital budgets on AI, the GSMA found in a recent survey of operators.
Putting today's AI-related politics aside, nearly half of operators are dedicating 5% to 15% of their digital budgets towards AI, covering a range of categories, including data systems, large language models and infrastructure upgrades, the GSMA survey found. That AI money is also being allocated toward AI teams, tools and partnerships, said GSMA.
The study is based on a survey of 100 operators worldwide (split into regional quotas), with the fieldwork conducted in September and October 2024, Tim Hatt, head of research at GSMA Intelligence, explained in an emailed statement.
Showing that AI investments are still in the relatively early days, 22% of survey respondents said they allocated less than 5% of their digital budgets to AI, and just 4% allocated more than 25% of those budgets.

This spending range underscores the "diverse levels of commitment to AI-led innovation," the study noted.
AI ROI varies
There's also plenty of diversity on how operators believe they'll get a return on their AI investments, with anticipated results spanning improved financial results to better cost controls.
Operators' focus on AI-related ROI (return on investment) varies by region, but among US and Canadian operators surveyed, creating AI-driven new revenue streams and improved customer services – at 19% each – were the top key goals. Those goals were followed by improving employee productivity and creativity, improving decision making and enhancing existing products and services (14% each); improving network planning and operations (10% each); and reducing operating expenses and improving regulatory compliance (5% each).
Some cable operators' AI initiatives would fall into the network operations budget. Comcast, for example, has been putting a heavier reliance on new AI technologies to boost network efficiency and performance and is implementing new AI-based tools for its expanding DOCSIS 4.0 deployments.
Most have an AI strategy
The study also shed some light on AI adoption, finding that 65% of those surveyed have implemented an AI strategy as a standalone initiative or one that is integrated into broader objectives. However, just 25% of operators are using "ad hoc" approaches to AI, and about 10% lack any type of an AI strategy.
Though AI tools and systems are replacing portions of the telco talent pool, telcos likewise see a need for more AI talent. More than a third of respondents (37%) said AI skills are somewhat under-resourced, and 4% said they are severely under-resourced. Another 42% said those skills are adequately resourced, and 17% said they are very well resourced.
Some 68% of the operators surveyed pointed to productivity gains – a percentage of the time saved versus the time previously spent – as a primary metric to assess the success of AI initiatives.
Focus on security
An earlier survey in the GSMA's AI study series explored security threats, including risks to infrastructure and operator reputation. GSMA's mobile-focused operators unsurprisingly found that mobile networks and devices face the highest threat level, followed closely by Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

But when those factors are rolled together, nearly 50% of the operators surveyed said they consider cybersecurity concerns including ransomware, malware and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to be the highest barrier to achieving their AI goals.
Phishing and smishing (SMS-focused phishing) were the top perceived threats (88%) among operators, followed by ransomware (78%), signaling and interconnect attacks (57%), supply chain attacks (51%), and attacks on virtualized infrastructure (9%).
Editor's note: The story has been updated with additional detail about the methodology used for the GSMA study.