Beyond revenue: why telecom’s future depends on profitability, not just revenue
On 24 September 2025, I moderated a panel at Connected Britain titled “Monetising Your Network for a Better Tomorrow” — or, as Carlos Bock aptly put it, “Monetising Your Network for a Better Today.” The panel brought together influential voices from across the telecom ecosystem — Ronan Kelly (Managing Director, AllPoints Fibre), Stefan Stanislawski (CEO, Lightning Fibre), Carlos Bock (Executive Chairman, F&W Networks), Will Rhodes (Carrier Managed Service Consultant, Ciena), and Dan Bloch (Senior VP Global Solution, Calix) — to tackle one of the industry’s most urgent challenges: how to unlock new value in a market that’s saturated, commoditised, and fiercely competitive.
The answer, it turns out, isn’t about chasing revenue growth. It’s about profitability.
From ARPU to AMPU: a necessary shift in focus
For more than a decade, telecom operators have measured success by one metric above all others: average revenue per user (ARPU). But as competition intensifies and price wars continue to drive down returns, ARPU alone tells an incomplete story. Carlos Bock noted, customers today are getting a “Ferrari for the price of a Honda.” Ultra-fast, highly reliable connectivity is priced like a commodity — and operators have been complicit in that race to the bottom.
It’s time to shift the industry’s focus from ARPU to AMPU (Average Margin Per User). Understanding what customers pay is no longer enough — telcos must grasp what each user contributes to profitability. During the panel, Ronan Kelly posed a simple yet revealing question: “Who here knows their AMPU?” Out of more than 200 attendees, only two raised their hands. This striking moment underscored a critical gap — most operators lack visibility into per-user margin data, even though it’s essential for informed strategic decisions.
Ultimately, telcos are valued not by the size of their top-line revenue, but by their EBITDA margin — the efficiency with which they generate earnings, as measured by metrics like Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and EBITDA multiples.
Beyond connectivity: monetisation through value creation
Connectivity will always be the bedrock of telecom. But as bandwidth becomes abundant and undifferentiated, telcos must move beyond selling “pipes” and start selling outcomes.
That means evolving from a product-centric mindset — faster speeds, bigger data packages — to a customer-centric value proposition that focuses on enterprises language and outcomes e.g., visibility, reliability, security, and predictability.
Monetisation isn’t just about launching new services; it’s also about repackaging and optimising what already exists. Whether that’s offering connectivity-as-a-service, bundling security capabilities, or embedding network insights into enterprise workflows, the goal is the same: deliver differentiated value that customers are willing to pay a premium for.
One example came from Stefan Stanislawski, highlighted how telcos can unlock profitability by embedding themselves in their communities. By supporting initiatives like the Heathfield Agricultural Show and enabling smart farming through real-time data transmission, remote monitoring, and IoT connectivity, Lightning Fibre is not just selling broadband — it’s solving real challenges for rural customers. This approach transforms the telco from a utility provider into a trusted local brand. As Stefan put it, “We want to build a community, we want to build a local brand, we want to connect to our customers in these rural areas, understand their challenges, and solve their problems.”
AI as a catalyst for profit growth
Emerging technologies — especially AI, GenAI and Agentic AI — will be the defining factor separating the winners from the laggards.
Ronan Kelly captured this shift bluntly: “there are two types of telcos — those that leverage AI, and those that don’t. The latter, are on a path to bankruptcy.” The industry is already bifurcating into two camps: those integrating AI deeply into operations and customer offerings, and those resisting it. The former will see margins expand, the latter risk irrelevance.
But AI adoption isn’t just a technology challenge — it’s a people challenge. Ronan highlighted the fear many employees feel about AI changing their roles (and how they feel as if they were cheating), Ronan linked this to the early days of Excel: “Did the person who switched from paper to spreadsheets feel like they were cheating?”
AI and automation have real impact on operational efficiency (driving down costs) and revenue enablement (enhancing targeting, personalising offerings, and uncovering new revenue streams). Operators that use AI to intelligently segment customers, tailor marketing, and optimise service delivery will achieve higher margins and stronger competitive positioning.
Dan Bloch added that AI’s real power lies in precision — enabling targeted marketing, customer segmentation, and focused sales strategies. Instead of casting a wide net, “Telcos can use AI to deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time, driving both relevance and profitability.“
Profit through partnerships and ecosystems
The B2B telecom ecosystem is undergoing significant disruption. Hyperscalers, system integrators, multicloud providers, and other non-traditional players are increasingly offering communication services — often with greater agility and deeper enterprise integration. This shift is intensifying competition and pressuring telcos in their core markets.
The result is a fragmented landscape where traditional telcos can no longer rely solely on infrastructure ownership or legacy relationships. Instead, they must rethink their role in the value chain — moving from isolated service providers to collaborative ecosystem partners. Sustainable monetisation will depend on telcos’ ability to co-create value with these emerging players, rather than compete against them in a zero-sum game.
Will Rhodes stressed that “no single operator can capture the full value chain alone. Sustainable monetisation will depend on ecosystem collaboration — where each player understands its value contribution and shares in the resulting margins.”
Whether it’s partnering with cloud hyperscalers for edge services, security vendors for managed offerings, or local organisations to build community-focused solutions, the future of telecom monetisation will be built on shared value creation rather than isolated competition.
What “good” looks like
In this new era, successful telecom operators will:
- Know their profitability at a granular level, including per-user margins.
- Shift from network providers to value enablers, delivering capabilities and outcomes rather than just connectivity.
- Use AI strategically to boost both efficiency and revenue.
- Build ecosystems that expand value creation and customer relevance.
The operators that fail to evolve will continue competing on price — and in doing so, erode the very margins they need to survive.
Final thoughts
Telecom’s future growth story isn’t about adding more zeros to the revenue line. It’s about building a business that’s profitable, resilient, and indispensable. That requires a mindset shift — from chasing scale to maximising value, from ARPU to AMPU, and from selling bandwidth to selling outcomes.
To close the session, I asked each panellist to leave the audience with one word that captures their vision for the future of telecom:
- Carlos → Optimise
- Stefan → Relationship
- Dan → Personalise
- Ronan → Differentiate
- Will → Partner
As the Connected Britain panel made clear, the telcos that embrace this transformation will not only monetise their networks for a better tomorrow — they’ll secure their profitability today.
AI in EMEA 2025, a recent eBook, features a section on telco. You can download it here.
For more information on AI, join our 2026 tech predictions webcast on Dec 3rd. The Agentic Business Future: Driving Resilience, Sovereignty, and Innovation in EMEA, IDC’s Tech Predictions for 2026 and Beyond.