For decades, service providers like MNOs and MVNOs, had value propositions built around delivering reliable communication services. Voice, messaging, and mobile subscriptions formed the backbone of enterprise communication, and providers that could scale these services efficiently built strong market positions.
Today, that foundation still matters, but on its own it is no longer enough.
Service providers now operate in a market shaped by margin pressure, rising customer expectations, increasing service complexity, and AI. At the same time, end users don’t want stand alone services, they want workflows. They expect subscriptions, mobility, and communication to work together seamlessly and to support the way their organisations actually operate.
The future of service providers will be defined by how effectively they move from selling stand alone communication services to delivering communication enablement.
Communication services have become the baseline
Voice, messaging, and mobile subscriptions remain essential. But for enterprise customers, they are no longer differentiators, they are expectations.
Businesses assume that communication services will be available wherever their employees work, that usage will be predictable, and that pricing will be transparent.These capabilities are now considered table stakes. What has changed is how communication services are consumed and evaluated.
Hybrid work, distributed teams, and international operations have reshaped communication behaviour. Subscriptions or users are no longer tied to a single device, location, or working pattern. Employees move between countries, networks, and use cases, and they expect their communication services to move with them.
When communication services are positioned purely as individual line items, voice here, data there, roaming as an exception, providers are increasingly pushed into price-led discussions that overlook the broader value their services enable.
Subscription complexity comes at a cost
Margin pressure is a reality across the service provider landscape, particularly for MNOs and MVNOs operating at scale. In response, many providers attempt to compete through flexibility: tailored subscriptions, custom pricing models, and customer-specific exceptions.
While this approach can be effective in winning individual deals, it often introduces long-term challenges that are less visible upfront. As subscription portfolios grow more complex, so do onboarding processes, billing logic, and support requirements. Over time, operational overhead increases, and scalability becomes harder to achieve.
What begins as a commercial advantage can quietly erode margins and strain internal teams. The cost of managing complexity is rarely reflected in the initial deal, but it is felt across the entire service lifecycle.
Service providers that recognise this dynamic early are better positioned to protect both profitability and long-term growth.
Enablement changes the role of the service provider
Enterprise customers are increasingly focused on outcomes rather than components. They are not looking for more subscription options or additional features; they are looking for communication services that simply work across users, countries, and use cases. Preferably also integrated into other systems they use.
Communication enablement means designing services that support real-world behaviour. It means ensuring that services can be deployed and managed without unnecessary friction. It also means helping customers navigate complexity rather than passing it on to them.
When service providers focus on enablement, the commercial conversation shifts. Discussions move away from price per unit and towards value delivered across the organisation. Communication services are no longer evaluated in isolation, but as part of a broader business experience.
Hybrid work reshapes communication expectations
Hybrid work is often discussed in terms of location, but for service providers the real shift lies in communication behaviour.
Employees no longer work from a single place, using a single device, within a single network context. They move between offices, homes, and countries, often within the same role or even the same week. Communication services must support this reality without creating friction or uncertainty.
Service providers that understand hybrid work, together with AI, as a permanent shift, rather than a temporary trend, are better positioned to design services that remain relevant over time.
Looking ahead
The future of service providers will not be defined by voice minutes, data allowances, or subscription counts alone. It will be defined by how effectively those elements come together to enable modern communication.
Providers that succeed will treat communication services as a foundation, not the stand-alone product. They will prioritise clarity over complexity, design subscriptions for hybrid and mobile-first organisations, and protect margins through scalable, well-structured models.
As expectations continue to rise, the opportunity is clear. Service providers that focus on communication enablement, rather than isolated services, will be the ones shaping the next phase of the market.
