There is a rush amongst telcos to become Techcos and, more recently, AI cos. But is that the silver bullet for an industry struggling to stay relevant to both equity markets and consumers? Or is it just another transformation project?

At the recently concluded Twimbit Telco CEO forum and awards program, we reflected on the top metrics driving Telco CEOs—shareholder returns. We realized Warren Buffett has never invested in a telco, except for a brief dalliance with AT&T stock. If he doesn’t believe in the long-term growth of an industry, it’s a tough sell.

We looked at one of Buffett’s favorite stocks, Coca-Cola, and imagined what it would look like if telcos were in the business of selling Coca-Cola.

It Would Look Like This!

Imagine Coca-Cola—one of the most valuable consumer brands on earth—served in a bulk water dispenser. The consumer comes with their own Stanley or Yeti bottle and “tops up.” No glass bottle, no branding, no personalization, no ritual, no experience. It’s still fizzy in the glass—but the magic, the experience, is stripped away.

This is exactly what telcos have done to their core product: connectivity. Every time a telco sells pure GB, they’re effectively putting Coca-Cola in a water dispenser. The consumer brings their own bottle: Netflix, WhatsApp, TikTok, Grab, Spotify—all the apps that own the experience layer. The telco finances the network, carries the load, but doesn’t control the consumption narrative.

Instead of analyzing demand elasticity by consumer segment and influencing it with branding and personalization, telcos have made price/GB the moot comparison point, creating rapid commoditization. Which industry would invest billions in capex and just give it away? No wonder analysts question the value creation and ROIC of telcos.

Instead of every recharge acting as a trigger to be a better person, gamer, or influencer, it’s an undifferentiated experience where the “customer aha moment” does not exist. Instead of packaging perception and creating value by owning customer moments—despite touching a customer 100+ times a day—telcos tend to infuriate customers with friction points for simple tasks like changing a SIM card or resolving a billing issue.

🔥 The Hard Questions Telco CEOs Must Answer

1. Have we trained consumers to believe connectivity is a utility, not an experience?

2. Why are we comfortable being the "tech that no one cares about" when we touch the customer 1000x more often than Netflix or Grab?

3. What prevents us from ‘engineering great experiences’ instead of just engineering networks (although even that is outsourced to Nokia, Ericsson, and Huawei)?

4. How long will the “telco mindset” be a reason for poor organization design and practices?

Moving Forward: Becoming an UnTelco

We believe it’s time for telcos to “Un”Telco themselves before chasing the next buzzword. Being an UnTelco means releasing the traps of the past and not just being a better pipe or better tech to serve customers, but increasing relevance in customers’ journeys in a differentiated manner. Think of what Airalo did with travel eSIMs, what Bacha did to coffee, or what Coca-Cola did to ‘liquid consumption.’

Being an UnTelco doesn’t start with a big-bang transformation; it starts with magical micro-moments that can be made memorable.

✅ Our Recommendations

• Start owning daily moments in the consumer journey. Telcos that master journey-driven innovation will use tech more smartly. Assemble a team to run a “CX COE,” not another RFP.

• (Re)Build emotional touchpoints, not just a lower cost to serve customers. AI can be a true game-changer here.

• Think, build, and iterate on "experience monetization" as if every employee’s bonus depends on it. A gamer spends $1000+ on products to succeed in Call of Duty, but telcos are happy with an extra $5 for a good connection. Instead of ARPU, change the metric to share of the customer’s digital wallet.

Twimbit would love to partner with you on building the “UnTelco.”

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