At CostPerform, we recently hosted a webinar on Telecom Cost Optimization with our CEO and Costing Expert, Sander den Hartog, and Telecom Finance Expert, Carl Halewood. With the rapid pace of change the telecom industry is going through, these two costing experts discussed the current state of the market in telecom, what’s changing and what telecom operators can expect. When it comes to profitability, increased customer demand is met with competitive pricing, making it difficult to see returns on investments and face regulatory scrutiny.
These factors impacting the market make it necessary to have a solid grasp of your costs – both to optimize spending and to meet increasing regulation.
The Telco Landscape is No Longer Static
Telcos used to operate in predictable markets. Infrastructure investments lasted decades. Revenue was based on call minutes and SMS usage. Compared to the past, the current telecom landscape is unrecognizable. The emergence of 5G, edge computing, AI services, and global geopolitical shifts has accelerated complexity and uncertainty. Competition now includes hyperscalers, satellite ISPs, and media giants.
Carl Halewood, a telco finance expert with global regulatory and operational experience, summed it up in a recent webinar with CostPerform: “The market is moving fast – investments that used to last 40-50 years are no longer the norm.”
Cost Pressures Are Mounting, While Revenue Remains Flat
Capital expenditures for next-gen networks like full-fiber and 5G are massive. But in many markets, pricing remains flat or even falling due to regulatory oversight, customer churn, and pricing wars.
Meanwhile, retail pricing has decoupled from actual cost structures. Bundles change constantly: from text-and-call plans to unlimited data to quad-play with TV and smart home services. The cost logic behind each product? Often unclear.
“It’s more based on client needs than it is on cost operations. The speed of change has outpaced what we’re seeing offered sometimes by retailers.”
– Carl Halewood, Telecom Finance Expert
Traditional Costing Models Can’t Handle Modern Complexity
Many operators still rely on legacy ERP systems or spreadsheet-based cost models. These are brittle, slow, and lack transparency. They fail to capture:
- Shared infrastructure use across products
- Capital vs operational expense dynamics
- Changes in network design, such as virtualized or disaggregated layers
- Scenario testing across retail, wholesale, and regulatory layers
Without modern cost modeling, telcos are flying blind when regulators ask about margin squeeze, or when trying to forecast the impact of new product bundles.
CFOs Need Tools that Support Transparency and Iteration
Modern telecom cost allocation must be agile and auditable. That means:
- Tracing cost from general ledger through to final product profitability
- Handling multiple cost layers (network, wholesale, retail)
- Supporting both top-down and bottom-up analysis
- Enabling quick iterations to test pricing, bundling, or infrastructure changes
“Build something you can do iterations on… the bundles you have today will be different from those next quarter,” Carl advised.
Case Study: BT Group Adopts Transparent ABC Modeling
BT Group, a major UK telecom provider, replaced a rigid ERP-based cost system with CostPerform, a purpose-built ABC (activity-based costing) platform. Why?
- The legacy system was too slow to meet regulatory deadlines
- It lacked traceability from asset to retail product
- It couldn’t run fast, reliable iterations
With CostPerform, BT gained full cost transparency, streamlined regulatory compliance, and reduced the risk of financial reporting errors. Even the regulator requested access for its own audits. Read about the case study here.
Time for a Costing Wake-Up Call
Telecom CFOs face a paradox: soaring investment needs, fierce competition, and increased regulatory scrutiny, all while legacy cost models provide less and less clarity.
Modern cost allocation tools can be your competitive advantage. If your cost model can’t adapt to shifting bundles, emerging technologies, or regulatory change, your strategy may be built on sand.
Now is the time to rethink your costing stack.
Missed the webinar?
Discover how telcos are rethinking cost, competition & tech in 2025. Download the webinar below to watch the replay.
