Bain: AI to greatly increase network operator expenses; network re-engineering needed!

Bain & Company projects that telecom operators' operating cost structures will undergo one of their most significant shifts in decades over the next three to five years, as AI agents become embedded across customer care, network operations, software engineering, and enterprise functions and tokens account for a growing share of operating expenditures. The consultancy concludes that network re-engineering is needed to absorb the resulting increase in operator expenses.

Introduction by Bain: “Over the next three to five years, the operating cost structure used by telecom operators is likely to undergo one of the most significant shifts in decades. As AI agents become embedded across customer care, network operations, software engineering, and enterprise functions, tokens will account for a growing share of operating expenditures.”... Read more → https://techblog.comsoc.org/2026/09/15/bain-ai-to-greatly-increase-network-operator-expenses-network-re-engineering-needed/