HFS Horizons: Telecom Service Providers, 2025

The HFS Horizons: Telecom Service Providers, 2025 report is for telecom executives and sourcing leaders selecting IT services and advisory partners to reinvent their networks, operations, and business models.

Overview

HFS Horizons: Telecom Service Providers, 2025 assesses 20 IT services and advisory firms on their ability to help telecommunications firms move from “telco” to “newco,” reinventing networks, operations, and business models for digital demand. The report evaluates providers across HFS’ strategic telecommunication services framework and the six links of its telecommunications value chain, then ranks them into three Horizons. It is authored by Joel Martin, Executive Research Leader, and Biswadeep Ghosh Hazra, Senior Analyst.

Key findings

1. Horizon 3 Market Leaders include Accenture, Capgemini, EY, HCLTech, Infosys, NTT DATA, and Tech Mahindra. Horizon 2 Enterprise Innovators include Cognizant, IBM, Persistent, Sutherland, TCS, Virtusa, and Zensar. Horizon 1 Disruptors include Encora, Infinite, Innova Solutions, KPMG, UST, and Wipro.
2. HFS identifies three core factors shaping the industry’s future: end-to-end solutions and ecosystem orchestration, compliance and emerging trends, and innovation through open architectures and network-as-a-service models.
3. Horizon 3 providers must demonstrate OneEcosystem synergy, creating new sources of value beyond the client’s four walls with referenceable clients driving new business models.
4. For one client, Accenture enabled a 50% reduction in operating costs, managed over 8 million tickets, and reduced total cost of ownership by 40%, while supporting over 100 million platform end users through its customer care services.
5. Innovation is driven by interconnected technologies including GenAI, 5G, edge computing, network-as-a-service, and cybersecurity, making a strong services partner crucial as these evolve quickly.

HFS finds that the strongest partnerships engage services and telecom firms across both technology and business, with CEO support from both parties. HFS assesses that a Horizon 3 provider is not always the right fit, and advises buyers to define needs and outcomes before selecting a partner.

Research methodology

HFS ranked 20 participating providers using data collected from August to November 2024, including reference checks with 40 active telecom enterprise clients and 33 active partners, provider briefings, and public sources.

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