From connectivity to commerce: Telco strategies for B2B success

For decades, telecommunications companies have poured resources into the consumer market, battling for market share through device subsidies, promotional plans and customer service investments. But as consumer growth slows and margins tighten, the real growth engine is becoming clear: The B2B sector.

With enterprise connectivity needs exploding, the global B2B telecommunications market is expected to triple, from $97 billion in 2024 to nearly $294 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 15%¹. For telcos ready to pivot, the opportunity is staggering. But capturing this market requires more than shifting your sales pitch — it requires a strategic overhaul in sales execution, architecture and technology.

A recent McKinsey survey² showed that more than half of enterprise buyers plan to increase their telecom spending in the next 12 months. This is a strong indicator that connectivity is now considered a mission-critical investment.

But it’s not just about basic services. Enterprises want more: Private 5G, managed network infrastructure, cybersecurity, data orchestration and real-time analytics. Telcos that can bundle these services into tailored, agile offerings will secure long-term relationships and recurring revenue.

The challenge? Most telcos are still operating on consumer-grade platforms and legacy IT systems that can’t support the complexity or customization that B2B customers require.

A telco can’t simply repackage its consumer services and expect to win in the B2B space. The B2B buyer expects tailored offerings, transparent pricing, integration capabilities and enterprise-grade solutions.

To meet these expectations, telcos need to:

• Segment more effectively. Differentiate between small businesses, mid-market companies and large enterprises. Each group has unique needs, budgets and decision cycles.

• Bundle smarter. Combine services like private 5G, cybersecurity and network management into customized bundles that solve specific business problems.

• Deploy specialized sales teams. Invest in teams with deep industry knowledge, technical understanding and solution-selling capabilities.

• Enable omnichannel sales. Whether it’s self-service portals, B2B marketplaces, direct reps or partner channels, businesses expect seamless interactions across every touchpoint.

Many telcos are already seeing stronger results from revamped sales models, largely due to the shift toward omnichannel strategies and tailored B2B offerings.

From a big picture perspective, composable commerce empowers telcos to deliver agile, customer-centric B2B solutions. Because the approach allows for incremental adoption, telcos are not forced to immediately abandon their legacy operational and business support systems (OSS/BSS). This is particularly attractive to large telcos that fear change because they have grown through acquisitions and have multiple disparate systems. 

The benefits that composable commerce offers are essential for addressing the complex and diverse needs of B2B customers, such as:

1. Flexibility: Composable commerce allows telcos to select and integrate best-of-breed components tailored to their specific requirements, enabling them to quickly adapt to market changes and customer demands.

2. Scalability: As telcos grow their B2B operations, composable commerce solutions can easily scale to accommodate increased transaction volumes and more sophisticated business processes.

3. Customization: With composable commerce, telcos can create personalized experiences for different B2B customers, addressing unique needs and preferences. This is crucial for maintaining a competitive advantage in the B2B space.

4. Faster time to market: By leveraging pre-built components, telcos can reduce development time and quickly launch new products and services, staying ahead of competitors.

5. Cost efficiency: Composable commerce allows telcos to pay for only the components they need, optimizing costs and avoiding the expense of maintaining monolithic systems.

6. Integration capabilities: It facilitates seamless integration with existing systems, including CRM, ERP, CPQ and other business tools, ensuring smooth operations and data consistency across platforms.

Composable systems also align with TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA), which promotes interoperability and flexibility across the telecom ecosystem.

The rise of agentic AI platforms — autonomous, decision-making AI systems — is poised to transform the way telcos engage with B2B customers.

Imagine AI agents that:

• Proactively recommend upsell opportunities based on usage patterns.

• Automate complex quote-to-cash workflows.

• Handle 80% of customer inquiries autonomously.

• Optimize network planning and service delivery in real time.

With agentic AI adoption expected to grow at over 44.8% CAGR through 2030³, early adopters already see tangible benefits. Telcos using AI agents in pilot programs report improved conversion rates, reduced support costs, and higher customer satisfaction.

Composable commerce is key to making this a reality. Its API-first design allows easy integration with AI engines, real-time data feeds and decision-making layers, enabling the kind of intelligence and automation that B2B customers increasingly expect.

As telcos build their B2B business, they’ll need to support more users, devices, transactions and complex deals.

Composable commerce platforms scale effortlessly — not just in terms of infrastructure, but also in logic and complexity. Need to add a new vertical with specialized catalogs? Done. Launch a new partner marketplace? Easy. Handle seasonal spikes in demand? No problem.

The modularity of composable systems ensures that performance and user experience don’t degrade as business needs expand. That means faster response times, more accurate quoting and better SLA adherence.

For telecom providers, B2B is becoming the core engine of growth. To thrive in this space, telcos must:

• Embrace modular, composable commerce to support complexity and customization.

• Use agentic AI to deliver proactive, intelligent services at scale.

• Continuously refine their sales approach to align with evolving enterprise expectations.

Composable commerce isn’t just a technology decision. It’s a strategic move that enables telcos to be more responsive, resilient and relevant in the eyes of enterprise buyers.

Serving various telco and media customers worldwide, commercetools has proven to be an invaluable ally to the telecommunications industry. Our composable approach fully aligns with the ODA framework created by TM Forum to accelerate the industry’s transition from monolithic, legacy IT stacks towards more agile, horizontal, plug-and-play environments.

By migrating to commercetools in conjunction with adopting the ODA framework, telcos can easily execute the strategies necessary to capitalize on the current B2B opportunity as well as expand into additional markets that will drive growth and reinforce their competitive edge. 

Download our white paper: Turning Challenges into Opportunities: How Composable Technology Will Save the Telecom Industry and discover how commercetools is helping telcos embrace change and lead the next wave of B2B innovation.

Sources: ¹Market Research Future ²McKinsey ³Markets and Markets