The Global Telecommunications Study 2025 reveals significant Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) growth potential through Simon-Kucher’s HELP Framework - prioritizing Happy, Engaged, Loyal, and Paying customers.
Simon-Kucher, the world’s leading commercial growth and pricing consultancy, unveiled findings from its Global Telecommunications Study 2025. Covering 31 markets and more than 15,700 consumers, the research shows telecom operators are realizing just 60 percent of their full customer value potential, as average ARPUs have fallen seven percent versus 2024. The study calls on operators to pivot away from expensive, volume-driven acquisition strategies, referred to as the “red ocean,” and refocus on existing customers, the untapped “blue ocean”. Growth lies in activating Simon-Kucher’s proprietary HELP Index: Happy, Engaged, Loyal, Paying customers, a global KPI that enables telcos to measure and compare their performance against peers worldwide.
“Many operators continue to emphasize acquisition strategies, but our research shows there’s significant untapped potential within the existing customer base,” said Dr. Kajetan Zwirglmaier, Partner and Global Head of Telecommunications at Simon-Kucher. “The HELP Index indicates that by enhancing happiness, engagement, loyalty, and monetization levers, telcos can increase CLTV by 11 to 43 percent. Refocusing on the base offers a clear path to stabilizing ARPU and building sustainable, profitable growth.”
Key Findings
Happy - Satisfaction Shortfall: Telcos trail other industries, averaging a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 14 compared to 16-80 across other sectors
Engaged - Engagement Drives Loyalty: About 60 percent of customers contact their provider annually, but more than 60 percent of those issues are not resolved on the first attempt. If managed well, regular touchpoints can be an opportunity, as more than 40 percent of ‘promoters’ call more than 10 times per year.
Loyal - Loyalty Pays Off: 95 percent of value comes from customers with three or more years’ tenure; they represent 75 percent of the base and spend seven percent more than new customers.
Paying - CLTV Upside in Broadband: Average mobile CLTV stands at €2,000 with a six-year tenure, while broadband CLTV is 43 percent higher, driven by elevated ARPUs despite a shorter five-and-a-half-year lifetime.
The study underscores that sustainable growth will come not from expanding customer counts, but from deepening relationships with the existing base. Operators that improve first-call resolution, build more compelling loyalty programs, and drive targeted digital engagement can convert satisfaction and interaction into measurable lifetime value. The HELP Framework gives operators a standardized benchmark to assess performance across these levers and a roadmap to capture the 40 percent of customer value that remains untapped worldwide.
“Telcos that treat customer lifetime value as a strategic KPI will define the next era of growth,” said Alexander Zimm, Senior Director in Simon-Kucher’s Global Telco Practice. “Applying the HELP Framework – by driving customer satisfaction, delivering frictionless service touchpoints, deepening loyalty, and expanding up- and cross-sell initiatives – will unlock growth while safeguarding profitability in shifting markets.”
Complete study findings are available upon request.
About the Study: Simon-Kucher’s 2025 Global Telco Study includes insights from more than 15,700 consumers across 31 countries.
*The HELP Index is Simon-Kucher’s global scoring system that benchmarks telcos across four growth levers -happiness, engagement, loyalty, and paying behavior - using a 40-point scale built from metrics like NPS, service interactions, app engagement, contract length, and ARPU. Globally, telcos score just 24 out of 40, or 60 percent of their full customer value potential.
About Simon-Kucher
Simon-Kucher is a global consultancy with more than 2,000 employees in 31 countries. Our sole focus is on unlocking better growth that drives measurable revenue and profit for our clients. We achieve
this by optimizing every lever of their commercial strategy - product, price, innovation, marketing, and sales - based on deep insights into what customers want and value. With 40 years of experience in monetization topics of all kinds, we are regarded as the world’s leading pricing and growth specialist.