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Telecom deals are easy to announce and hard to operationalize. The headlines move fast, but the real work begins when two networks, two operating models, and two sets of systems are expected to behave like one.
That challenge is playing out across North America right now. Frontier has aligned with Verizon. Lumen has transferred its mass markets fiber business to AT&T. T Mobile has acquired US Cellular, Lumos, and Metronet. Ziply has joined Bell Canada. Zayo is divesting assets to Crown Castle.
No matter the buyer or seller, the intent is similar: remove duplication and operate as one network.
Service providers are under intense pressure to simplify complex network estates, eliminate duplicated systems, and defend margins in an environment where pricing power is limited. That pressure is showing up clearly in the market. Bain & Company reports that telecom M&A activity reached $63 billion globally in the first half of 2025, representing a 44% year-over-year increase, with the Americas accounting for nearly 90% of total deal value.
Yet while consolidation can reshape balance sheets, it does not automatically deliver operational advantage. The hardest work begins after the deal closes, inside the data that underpins network operations.
What is Really Driving Telecom Consolidation
At its core, consolidation in telecom is about economics. They are driven less by geographic expansion and more by the need to control costs, accelerate growth, and improve capital efficiency.
Demand for bandwidth continues to rise, but competitive intensity keeps prices in check. High-speed connectivity is increasingly viewed as essential infrastructure rather than a premium service, leaving operators with limited room to raise rates. Customers often have multiple broadband options, which makes retention harder and loyalty more fragile.
Organic expansion remains important, but it comes with long timelines and heavy capital requirements. Fiber deployments can cost thousands of dollars per location and may take years to generate returns. Acquiring existing networks offers a faster route to scale while reducing exposure to prolonged build cycles.
This is why consolidation continues to accelerate. But scale alone does not deliver results.
The Post-Merger Problem Few Talk About
Once a transaction is complete, operators inherit complexity that is easy to underestimate. Legacy systems often remain active alongside newer platforms. Data lives in multiple places. Processes diverge. Teams work around limitations instead of resolving them.
The operational impact shows up quickly. Licensing and maintenance costs rise. Training efforts multiply. Customer response times slow. Inventory accuracy declines. McKinsey research shows that more than 70% of mergers fail to capture their intended value. Ineffective integration is one of the most common reasons, especially when IT systems and underlying data are not aligned or consolidated.
When systems are left fragmented, operators face:
- Redundant operational teams and tools
- Ongoing licensing and maintenance costs
- Delays in service activation and provisioning
- Inconsistent customer and network records
- Errors in field operations and asset tracking
These issues are rarely caused by technology limitations. More often, they stem from hesitation... organizations underestimate the complexity of data consolidation and postpone it. Over time, that delay becomes a major cost center.
Inventory Data is Where Execution Either Holds or Breaks
In telecom operations, inventory systems define reality. They represent the physical and logical network, determine service availability, and guide provisioning and repair workflows.
Whether an operator is merging two legacy inventory environments, migrating to a next generation platform, or integrating different back-end architectures, the same dependency applies. The network only works as well as the data describing it.
Cyient’s experience spans inventory platforms used by major operators across the United States, Canada, and Europe. That includes legacy systems and modern environments. Our focus goes beyond the tools themselves to the operational meaning embedded in the data.
We remain platform agnostic. Our work covers design and engineering systems, ticketing platforms, provisioning layers, and operational support tools. Whether the objective is modernization or rationalization, we bring we bring perspective from every layer of the ecosystem.
Why Internal Migration Efforts Struggle
A lot of IT teams make the same mistake here. They treat a network migration like a straight copy paste job. Pull the data from System A, push it into System B, and assume it will sort itself out.
In telecom, it rarely works that way. This data is tied to the real network. It represents physical and logical infrastructure, where fiber sits, what services can be delivered, how provisioning rules behave, and what customers depend on. If that context is off, even slightly, the downstream impact shows up fast.
Here are the issues we see most often:
- Misaligned field mappings
- Incomplete or incorrect location data
- Legacy formatting and encoding issues
- Lack of validation before and after migration
- Inflexible data models that cannot support new services
Cyient’s approach avoids these pitfalls by treating migration as an end-to-end process, running it iteratively, validating at every stage, and fixing issues before they become operational problems.
How we Move Telecom Data Without Breaking the Network
At Cyient, we keep migrations practical and predictable. Here’s what that looks like in real terms:
- System Discovery and Mapping
Detailed analysis of source and target platforms, identification of inconsistencies, and modeling of future-state data structures. - Data Transformation and Cleansing
AI-enabled tools combined with domain expertise to standardize records, validate schemas, correct formats, and flag exceptions. - Offline, Iterative Migration
Secure staging environments where migrations are tested and validated repeatedly before production cutover. - Phased Cutover Execution
Live data snapshots, incremental updates, and controlled transitions that minimize disruption to ongoing operations. - Post-Migration Assurance
Traceability, verification, and rollback options to ensure confidence during the transition period.
What makes the difference is the combination of telecom domain understanding and disciplined execution. That mix is what keeps migrations clean and outcomes reliable.
Success Story: What Changed When the Data Finally Came Together
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A North American Nationwide fiber provider faced the challenge of consolidating more than a decade of fragmented data spread across multiple legacy systems. To support future growth and innovation, the company needed a single, unified inventory model. Cyient led the full migration and rationalization effort. The results included:
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A North American Regional Fiber Provider had the challenge of decades of data anomalies within their inventory system that was causing delays in activation and provisioning of new customers. Cyient led an effort performing a data cleansing process by validating multiple databases and correcting the conflicting anomalies with their system. The results included:
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Why Timing Matters More Than Most Teams Expect
Data transformation projects are often postponed because their value is difficult to isolate. Outside of major transformation efforts, they compete poorly for attention and funding.
Mergers and acquisitions change that dynamic.
Systems are already shifting. Budgets are allocated. Leadership focus is aligned. This creates a narrow window to address fragmentation before inefficiencies are carried forward into the combined organization.
Operators that act during this period are better positioned to stabilize operations, reduce long term costs, improve customer experience, and support sustainable growth.
Consolidation delivers results when data is aligned.
Leading a telecom merger or integration and want the operational side to move as smoothly as the deal? Read our playbook for a practical framework on clean data, faster integration, and long-term ROI. Click here.
If you want to pressure test your approach or compare notes on your current integration plan, let’s talk.
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About the Author
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Rob Erdelen |
Rob Erdelen is a senior executive with more than two decades of telecom experience who is passionate about solving complex technical challenges through the strategic application of innovative technologies to streamline operations and enhance efficiency. His leadership has enabled scalable growth by connecting teams across functions, using data to guide strategy, and embedding operational excellence. From launching new offerings to leading continent-wide sales organizations, Rob creates win-win outcomes that drive revenue growth and long-term value. Based in Detroit, MI, he combines strong business acumen with a systems-thinking approach to deliver measurable, lasting impact for customers and stakeholders alike.