Governance and assurance key to telco sovereign AI success – TMF report

• The TM Forum has examined what sovereign AI means for its telco members
• It finds that 77% have identified a commercial opportunity associated with the provision of sovereign AI services, even though the term is yet to be defined
• The key to telco success in the sovereign AI sector will be to ‘create the governance and assurance layer’ that aligns with AI infrastructure

Addressing one of the hottest topics in the industry right now, industry group TM Forum (TMF) has looked into the sovereign AI strategies of its telco members, noted that those operators are keen to capitalise on what they believe is a new business opportunity, and concluded that the best way for telcos to make money from the demand for sovereign AI is to use their networks and supporting systems to monetise “trust and compliance” by delivering “the governance, assurance and trust that sovereign AI will require.”

The TMF’s analysis of the sovereign AI opportunities, and how telcos should best address them, have been published in a new whitepaper, Making Sovereign AI Real, which was published just as Sweden’s Telia unveiled its latest sovereign AI service developments. 

Any guidance on this topic for the telco sector will be welcome right now, as there is a lot of uncertainty, as well as optimism, related to sovereign AI. The paper notes that while 72% of service providers are already investing in or exploring sovereign AI, only 25% are very confident of any real commercial demand, while 67% say the term is not yet universally understood (or defined). 

At the same time, it’s not something network operators can ignore because of the impact of geopolitical trends and regulatory rulings. According to the TMF, 98% of telcos are adapting or exploring changes to network architecture, and 96% are aligning more closely with national or regional policy, “pointing to a future where AI services are trusted, auditable, compliant and under clear control,” noted the industry body.  

So what should communications service providers (CSPs) focus on to make the most of the potential opportunities? Be the trusted partner that can “create the governance and assurance layer” that sits around AI infrastructure, according to the TMF.  

“Sovereign AI – keeping AI under national or organisational control – is an essential pillar” underpinning the provision of trustworthy AI. Its whitepaper proposes that telco networks “are the undervalued layer for assuring it. Not by owning GPU clusters or building national AI clouds but by doing what CSPs are best positioned to do: Operating a continuous, regulated enforcement layer that sits across every AI interaction, regardless of which models, platforms, or applications run it,” noted the industry association. 

The real opportunity for all CSPs, then, “is not just to build sovereign AI infrastructure but to create the governance and assurance layer around it. That is where long-term value, trust and differentiation will be won,” according to TMF CEO Nik Willetts. “This is not about owning GPUs or building datacentres. It is about controlling how AI behaves in motion, in real time. With geopolitical context heightening urgency, the race is on for CSPs to turn network advantage into AI control,” he added. 

The TMF’s research shows that, according to CSPs, “customers are placing less emphasis on where AI runs and far greater importance on how it behaves across complex, connected environments. This includes priorities, such as control over data flows across borders, the ability to audit and evidence AI decisions, and assurance that systems are compliant and regulator ready.”

Currently, though, “only 43% of CSPs are already investing in the governance, audit and assurance capabilities required to make sovereign AI operational,” according to the TMF.

As a result, the forum’s whitepaper “sets out a shift in priorities from infrastructure ownership, localisation strategies and capacity build-out to real-time policy enforcement, audit and assurance services, and monetisation of trust and compliance. Operators that move early can position themselves not at the edge of the AI value chain but at its control point – using the network to deliver the governance, assurance and trust that sovereign AI will require.”

The topic of sovereign AI is set to be a major talking point at the TMF’s annual DTW Ignite event in Copenhagen next week, where TelecomTV will be reporting on the major industry developments and interviewing key stakeholders as the telco community, once again, tries to figure out how to generate incremental revenues from a new digital services trend. 

Keep up to speed with the latest developments in TelecomTV’s dedicated sovereign services and strategies section. 
 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV