Catenaa, Saturady, May 23, 2026-Catenaa, May 22, 2026 – Ericsson warned that telecom operators risk missing new revenue opportunities from artificial intelligence and advanced 5G services because many companies remain slow to deploy the technologies needed to support them.
The warning came in a new Ericsson study based on a survey of 455 senior telecom executives worldwide.
The report found that 90% of executives believe their companies can unlock new revenue through AI and 5G services, yet 70% have not started implementing the technologies they consider necessary for that growth.
Ericsson described the gap between ambition and deployment as an “execution gap” that could determine which telecom firms survive the next wave of digital competition.
AI Pressure Builds
The company said AI-driven applications are placing growing pressure on network speed, flexibility and automation.
Executives surveyed identified private 5G networks, enterprise connectivity, digital services and wide-area Internet of Things platforms as the largest future revenue opportunities.
About 49% pointed to private 5G and enterprise connectivity as the main growth driver.
Another 44% identified consumer and enterprise digital services using tailored network performance.
Wide-area IoT connectivity followed at 40%.
Technology Rollouts Lag
Despite those ambitions, Ericsson found most telecom companies have not yet deployed the core technologies required to support such services.
About 66% of operators said they had not started implementing AI-driven network operations.
Another 61% had not deployed advanced 5G features such as standalone 5G and network slicing.
Meanwhile, 68% said they had not adopted SaaS-based IT platforms.
Ericsson strategy executive Razvan Teslaru said telecom companies largely agree on where growth opportunities exist but continue struggling to move quickly enough.
The report warned that legacy systems, rigid operating structures and slow decision-making are limiting progress across the industry.
China And Japan Tests
Ericsson also highlighted several recent network trials as examples of the technologies operators may need to adopt faster.
In China, the company worked with China Mobile and OPPO on consumer-level network slicing tests inside a live 5G standalone network in Shandong province.
The tests used AI-powered service recognition to improve performance for livestreaming, gaming, AI glasses and short-video applications.
Ericsson said the trial demonstrated guaranteed network throughput and lower latency for different user activities on existing 5G infrastructure.
Separately, Ericsson completed a large-scale AI-driven uplink optimization trial with KDDI in Japan.
The project used Ericsson’s AI-powered uplink optimization software alongside technology from Japanese company FYRA.
The companies said the trial improved performance across both 4G and 5G networks.
Ericsson’s report arrives as telecom operators worldwide search for new income sources beyond traditional mobile subscriptions and broadband services.
Industry analysts say AI, network slicing and enterprise connectivity are increasingly viewed as the next major telecom growth markets.
Still, many operators continue facing pressure from high infrastructure costs, slower broadband growth and competition from cloud and technology companies entering digital services markets.
Ericsson warned telecom firms may repeat past industry mistakes if they fail to accelerate deployment of AI-driven and advanced 5G technologies.
