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February 22, 2026
Most large enterprises, governments, hospitals, and utilities still run decades-old, power-hungry telecom systems that rely on hardware long past its design life. These circuit-switched networks handled voice calls and early data traffic. This is insufficient in our new era that demands 100 Gbps, 400 Gbps, and even terabit speeds for applications like 5G, cloud computing, and high-definition streaming. Due to high costs and operational inefficiencies, the industry has reached a critical point where legacy systems are being decommissioned. But one problem remains: legacy services are still being billed even though they are unused or disconnected.
Complexity across invoices, contracts, and service inventories makes oversight of telecom expenses difficult. The siloed nature of many large businesses doesn’t help. For instance, the IT department, while responsible for negotiating service contracts with its telecom providers, may have little to no communication with the accounts payable department. Many aren’t equipped for that level of technical scrutiny. Modernizing telecom management isn’t just about cost control; it’s a straightforward way to boost efficiency, eliminate waste, and support the sustainability goals every large organization is accountable for.
More than 70 percent of the software used by Fortune 500 companies was developed 20 or more years ago. The cost of inaction in updating legacy systems will continue to increase, and companies that ignore emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are effectively leaving money on the table. This leaves companies vulnerable to high operational costs and increased security risks, particularly in their telecom operations.
Leveraging existing data and AI and ML tools provides leaders with performance insights to make informed decisions that impact their bottom line and market position. A McKinsey & Company study finds that data-driven organizations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers, six times more likely to retain customers, and 19 times more likely to be profitable.
