Building on the heritage of our long-running Future Shopper research, the study reveals both the forces reshaping enterprise purchasing and the sector differences across seven priority industries that determine how suppliers earn attention, build confidence, and turn preference into decision.
Telecommunications procurement commands the largest buying committees in enterprise B2B, averaging more than nine stakeholders per decision. With IT acting as the primary gatekeeper, nearly 45% of major initiatives collapse with no decision – driving risk-averse buyers toward "safe" legacy suppliers over superior-value competitors.
VML’s "The Future Buyer: Telecommunications" report examines how telecommunications buyers research, evaluate and select suppliers for major investments – and what it takes for suppliers to win their business.
Download our 2026 Telecommunications report
While other B2B sectors answer primarily to finance, telecom deals live or die in IT. Commercial pitches and executive relationships aren't enough; suppliers must deliver deep architectural validation, compliance assurances, and integration proof to clear technical gatekeepers first.
Telecom buyers form opinions long before engaging a supplier: 41% establish strong preferences before ever speaking to sales, while sales conversations sway just 12% of buyers. Winning consideration requires owning early discovery channels and technical documentation before commercial outreach begins.
Telecom has the longest post-selection cycle in B2B: aligning internal stakeholders after picking a supplier takes over six weeks. With nearly 45% of projects abandoned due to compliance red tape and evaluation fatigue, suppliers must actively equip their internal champions to defend the choice internally.
In the telecommunications sector, brand reputation, analyst recognition and technical evidence carry the most weight in shaping opinions and swaying decisions.
The world of B2B marketing is being disrupted. 55% of buyers now begin supplier research with Generative AI. To win, your brand must be found by AI, trusted by people and approved by the buying group. Introducing The Future Buyer Report series by VML – a comprehensive study of modern B2B buying behavior based on first-party research with 750 buyers across eight international markets. Seven reports, seven industries – delivering a clear view of what influences buying decisions and how brands can act.
According to VML's "The Future Buyer: Telecommunications Report 2026," purchasing decisions involve an average of 9.3 stakeholders (the largest buying group across all B2B sectors). IT/Technology has the greatest meaningful influence over final decisions at 74% (compared to 56% across B2B generally), followed by finance at 56%, the C-suite at 47%, and central procurement at 42%.
Telecommunications buyers estimate that an average of 44.1% of significant purchasing initiatives end without any decision being reached (compared to an all-B2B average of 38.1%). Furthermore, reaching internal consensus takes an average of 6.13 weeks after selecting a preferred supplier. The leading causes of deal failure are risk or compliance concerns (42%), budget reallocations (34%), and procurement processes taking too long (33%).
Generative AI tools are the most cited starting point for research (55%), followed by direct supplier outreach (47%) and traditional search engines (45%). 77% of telecom buyers use GenAI frequently or always during supplier research. Preferences are bifurcated: 41% form a strong preference before speaking to any supplier (via independent research and marketing), while 32% wait until formal evaluation at the RFP stage.
Yes. While 77% of buyers admit to selecting safe, established suppliers to protect their internal reputation, 70% of telecommunications buyers report that they have moved an unfamiliar supplier onto an active shortlist after encountering its thought leadership, published research, conference presence, or podcast contributions.
Telecommunications buyers are increasingly comfortable with AI-led evaluation. 65.8% would feel fairly or fully comfortable approving a significant purchase where AI conducted the primary evaluation. This includes 46.6% who would be comfortable if the criteria were defined by a trusted human and 19.2% who believe AI evaluation can be more consistent and less biased than human review.
Yes. A supplier’s AI capability was the primary differentiating factor for 23.3% of telecommunications buyers when choosing between comparable suppliers. It also contributed meaningfully to the decision for a further 58.9% - meaning 82.2% say supplier AI capability has already influenced selection in some way.
Telecommunications buyers are most concerned about the loss of human relationship depth and negotiation leverage, cited by 65.8%. New data privacy and security risks follow at 64.4%, while 60.3% are concerned about AI making recommendations that are difficult to explain or audit internally.
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