Sovereign services not a cash cow for all – report

• TelecomTV’s latest annual Industry Vision report, based on a survey of our DSP Leaders Council members, has been published
• We included a question about the business potential for the telco community of digital sovereign services  
• The response was positive, in general, but only a third believe it’s a pot of gold that all service providers should be chasing

Sovereign services are set to be high on the agenda at the MWC26 show in Barcelona and with good reason – network operators are well placed to enable and capitalise on such services. But is it a significant growth opportunity for all telcos?

Not so, according to the results of TelecomTV’s recent survey of our DSP Leaders Council members that have just been published in the free-to-download DSP Leaders Industry Vision Report.

The topic of sovereign services isn’t new but has become a key strategic consideration for enterprises, governments, technology developers and digital service providers (DSPs) of all kinds during the past 12 months as geopolitical trends impact the corporate world. It’s a massive topic for the telecom sector, of course, which led TelecomTV to host its first Digital Sovereignty Forum in London in December 2025.

With that in mind, we asked our council members: Is the provision of digital sovereign services a meaningful opportunity for DSPs/CSPs to generate incremental profitable revenues? 

As you can see from the chart above, there were very few naysayers, while 36% believe all service providers should be developing digital sovereign services. But the majority, 54%, suggested this is only a meaningful opportunity for some service providers in particular markets, reflecting the very different regulatory, political and operating environments to be found around the world.    

One of those hoping to generate new business from the provision of sovereign services is UK national operator BT Group, which has just announced its initial sovereign voice service for the enterprise sector.  

The potential of sovereign services is just one of the many topics covered in the Industry Vision report – we asked our council members about a broad range of topics and trends, including the telecom sector’s growth prospects, AI strategies, satellite direct-to-device (D2D) service timelines, 6G readiness, ecosystem development, ‘fair share’ payments, the importance of various technical advances, and much more.

And we’ll be discussing some of the key takeaways from the report, including the potential of sovereign services, during a live panel discussion to be held on the show floor at MWC26. The discussion will be moderated by TelecomTV and hosted on the Rakuten booth 2C70, Hall 2, and will dig into the details of the following topics: Telco AI strategies; digital sovereign services; 6G readiness; and satellite direct-to-device (D2D) service timescales. Anyone can come along and watch this panel session, but seating and standing room will be limited.

Sovereign services also features in TelecomTV’s other new and also free-to-download report, MWC26 Hot Trends: A Barcelona Preview, which includes a run down of the major talking points for this year’s show, insights from a dozen telco executives, lots of tasty tapas recommendations, a cheesy MWC26 playlist and a buzzword bingo card – what more could you want to prepare for this year’s show!

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV