National Telephone Day, on April 25, commemorates the first telephone call in 1876, made by Alexander Graham Bell. That moment transformed connection, and today, the telecom industry is again at an inflection point.
Leaders are moving beyond isolated AI pilots to agentic at scale and redesigning core operations end to end. The gap is widening between companies experimenting at the edges and those committing at scale. That comes from embedding AI in customer journeys, automating network operations, and modernizing data architecture so decisions happen in real time, according to McKinsey’s Benjamim Vieira, Guilherme Cruz, Tomás Lajous, Ignacio Ferrero, and coauthors.
Companies that get it right can realize meaningful margin expansion and faster growth. Read more to learn how telecom leaders are capturing value now—where to focus, what to prioritize, and how to move before competitors do.
Entel Connect reimagines customer conversations with McKinsey and Google Cloud
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