Jointly authored and published by JLA Advisors & Bell Labs Consulting.

Key Points:

• AI is an existential inflection point for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), comparable to — but faster and more disruptive than — the Internet era.
• The AI data tsunami will strain mobile networks, increasing traffic, cost, and complexity without fixing the broken monetization model.
• Legacy systems, data silos, and processes are the primary blockers to AI autonomy and scale.
• Disruption is coming from outside telecom, as tech giants, AI leaders, and satellite players assemble AI-native stacks.
• Winning operators will act now, leveraging AI to manage legacy, creating new AI-native services (e.g., Managed Agent Providers), and launching AI-first digital MNOs designed for speed and innovation.