A significant shift has risen in the B2B technology and telecommunications landscape, where telecom operators find themselves at a strategic inflection point. Having historically held a competitive edge, operators today are faced with increased customer expectations to expand beyond their core connectivity offerings.
According to McKinsey’s latest Global Technology and Telecommunications B2B Pulse Survey, nearly 80 percent of B2B customers affirm that telcos have a “right-to-play” beyond traditional connectivity. Yet, many operators are falling short of capitalizing on this expanded mandate. While substantial growth opportunities lie in adjacent domains, such as next-generation connectivity, cybersecurity, and cloud-enabled services, they remain largely untapped by operators.
To meet these rising expectations and unlock new growth, telecom operators must move beyond their traditional roles to sharpen their digital engagement and commit to bold actions, clearly defining their value in the market as integration partners and end-to-end solution providers.
Right to play beyond the core is clear
We surveyed more than 3,000 B2B decision-makers from enterprises of all sizes, and nearly 80 percent of these customers surveyed indicated they believe telecom operators should play a larger role beyond core connectivity (Exhibit 1). This demand is especially strong among small businesses, with 36 percent wanting operators to become full-service providers for technology and telecom solutions. While large enterprises prefer operators with specialized expertise that can accommodate complex needs and existing vendor relationships, smaller and mid-sized businesses seek simplicity, integration, and comprehensive support.
Businesses are not just open to deeper engagement—they’re actively looking for partners that can help them navigate an increasingly digital and complex landscape. For telecom operators, this means there is both demand and expectation to expand their role. However, capturing this opportunity requires moving beyond traditional offerings and delivering a broader, more integrated value proposition.
Different markets, same message
Even with some geographical differences, B2B decision-makers clearly want operators to play a broader role in the industry. The regional variances that our survey found are largely explained by proven successes that have already occurred in markets where telcos have successfully branched out into domains beyond connectivity. In those countries, where telecom providers have begun moving into adjacent technology domains such as cybersecurity, cloud, or IT services, customer expectations have followed suit. For example, in Spain, which is a leader in this regard, over half of B2B respondents indicated they want to see their operators become “one-stop shop” providers (Exhibit 2). Similarly high expectations are seen in Brazil and Mexico, where nearly half of business customers envision operators playing a more integrated tech and telecom role.
In markets where telcos have been more resistant to diversify or where competition from hyperscalers and tech players is more intense, however, perceptions of the role of telcos remain more traditional. In Canada and South Korea, for example, respondents showed stronger preferences for operators to focus on core and selected domains.
An overlooked, yet high-potential segment of customers also exists in the nearly 40 percent of enterprises that currently allocate a limited portion of their non-core spending to telecom operators, though they also indicate a clear willingness to have operators’ play a broader role in their ecosystem. Operators can unlock this latent demand by enhancing their value proposition, whether through expanding solution portfolios, improving integration capabilities, or elevating service levels.
Money flows outside of connectivity
While core connectivity remains essential to enterprise infrastructure, growth expectations for this are just 3.2 percent. However, growth expectations for spending on telecom-related areas beyond the core are in the 6 percent range, as the need for cybersecurity, cloud services, and other business applications continues to expand (Exhibit 3). Increasingly, businesses need integrated, intelligent solutions that deliver reliability and competitive advantage.
Large enterprises lead this wave of solutions growth, with aggressive investment plans across all domains reflecting a growing awareness that future competitiveness hinges on the ability to shape the market through investments and innovation. As larger players scale up their spending, they pave the way for broader market transformation and set new benchmarks for what best-in-class technology strategy looks like in 2025 and beyond.
Security is the new imperative
Over 20 percent of global respondents see security as their most compelling priority, a finding that remained consistent across all regions (Exhibit 4). This highlights cybersecurity’s universality as a strategic imperative in diverse regulatory and technological landscapes.
The focus on cybersecurity becomes even more pronounced when segmented by company size. It is the top priority for 24 percent of large enterprises, followed by 20 percent of medium-sized firms and 17 percent of small businesses. While smaller companies place slightly more emphasis on customer engagement, the cross-segment consistency affirms that security is no longer an IT concern—it’s a business-critical priority.
Notably, cybersecurity is often cited as the top reason for switching providers, outranking brand, product capabilities, and even price. Security is becoming not only a top-of-mind priority of B2B decision-makers but also an imperative to compete, proving that trust and protection now sit at the core of B2B technology decisions.
Connectivity is table stakes
Although telcos continue to play a central role in the enterprise technology ecosystem, their position may be under threat. About one in four B2B customers plans to switch their telco vendors in the next 12 months, with cloud providers and tech manufacturers standing to gain the most (Exhibit 5). This trend goes beyond a single product line, with respondents showing declining preference for telcos when it comes to security, business applications, and next-gen connectivity.
As core connectivity—a domain exclusively dominated by telcos—is increasingly viewed as a commoditized offering, buyers are considering alternative vendors who can bundle connectivity with adjacent services. Nearly 60 percent of enterprise customers now prefer to procure core connectivity as part of an integrated solution, which often includes cloud, security, or collaboration tools. While actual switching activity has yet to match intent, and operators remain the sole providers of connectivity services, the shift in intention should be a wake-up call.
Africa shows sustained optimism beyond connectivity
For the second year in a row, Africa led all geographies with 69 percent of enterprises planning to increase their spend across most product categories (Exhibit 6). This sustained optimism reflects a growing appetite for digital infrastructure and a continued push to accelerate transformation across industries. Asia–Pacific and the Middle East also reported healthy investment outlooks, with over half of enterprises signaling budget increases, while the Americas maintained steady confidence levels.
Europe was the only region showing an upward trend in spend compared to 2023, suggesting a potential turning point in sentiment after a period of economic caution. The contrast between regions points to a dynamic global market, where some economies are seizing the opportunity to scale and modernize rapidly, while others are beginning to reengage with longer-term digital priorities.
Operators need to seize this moment and plan for bold moves
This expectation marks a profound shift that demands more than incremental adjustments. Operators must be prepared to make bold, decisive moves, anchored in a differentiated value proposition and supported by a long-term strategic vision. Incremental progress without strategic intent will not be enough. Two findings in particular stand out as essential when rethinking operators’ value proposition:
- The ability to act as integration partners emerged as the top value proposition that B2B customers expect from telecom providers. This trend was consistent across industries, signaling a decisive break from the traditional “reseller” model and positioning operators as orchestrators of complex digital ecosystems.
- Among noncore offerings, enterprise customers expect operators to lead in critical areas such as cybersecurity (21 percent) and next-generation connectivity (20 percent) (Exhibit 7, part 2). These are not just adjacent services but rather foundational to enabling the broader digital transformation journeys of B2B customers.
Customers want omnichannel
Omnichannel remains a cornerstone of B2B customer engagement, with customers clearly signaling a preference for a seamless, balanced experience across traditional, remote, and digital channels (Exhibit 8). Across the entire buying journey, from researching and evaluating suppliers to purchasing and reordering, B2B decision-makers are increasingly leaning into remote interactions, such as video calls and emails, while also accelerating their shift toward fully digital touchpoints. This evolution is being enabled by a decreasing number of friction points across the sales journey, further validating that customers are not only ready but equipped to engage in a more digital-first and remote-centric manner.
The data confirms this is not a passing trend but a structural change: in the next 12 months, fully digital channels are expected to nearly double in preference across several buying stages, pushing service providers to levels of digitization witnessed during the pandemic period in 2022. This shift is not confined to a specific region or industry—rather, it is a broad-based trend, underlining a global expectation for flexible and efficient engagement models.
High-value transactions are increasingly digital
Smoother journeys and accelerated digitization across B2B sales have unlocked significant growth for digital channels across all enterprise sizes and regions. Once reserved for smaller transactions, digital channels are now a trusted avenue for high-value deals, as evidenced by a tripling in spend of over €1 million through end-to-end digital self-service since 2022 (Exhibit 9).
This very clear shift is not limited to large enterprises; medium and small businesses are also showing a marked uptick in digital confidence, with double- and triple-digit percentage gains in willingness to transact digitally at higher price points. Average order values reflect this momentum, with projected growth of 51 to 55 percent across all segments by 2025. These figures underscore a pivotal transformation: Digital channels are no longer complementary—they are becoming core to how B2B companies buy and sell at scale.
B2B customers are no longer looking for telcos to simply keep the lights on—they expect strategic partnerships, seamless integration, and innovation that drives outcomes. Operators have long questioned whether they had the right to play beyond connectivity. The answer is now an unmistakable yes. Telcos that act decisively have the opportunity to lead the transformation of the telecommunications landscape, setting new benchmarks for excellence and driving sustainable growth in the industry.
