Operators Explore the Opportunity of Intelligent-Ready Buildings

In a recent Insight Series report, my colleague Bola Rotibi highlighted a major new trend: intelligent-ready buildings.

Intelligent-ready buildings are spaces that are more than digitally equipped, they’re network-aware, data-rich, responsive environments designed to evolve alongside a business’ strategy.

Unlike smart buildings, which focus on one or two specific functions such as energy efficiency, intelligent-ready buildings create a repeatable, scalable framework in which the network is the primary enabler — a unifying platform for systems, security and data.

Our report outlined the increasing need for companies to develop intelligent buildings and how companies like Cisco are capitalizing on the opportunity.

The trend also presents an interesting opportunity for telecom operators to increase revenue from business customers, cut the cost of operations in their own buildings and meet sustainability goals. Operators should highlight these last two elements — cutting operating costs and meeting green targets — when pitching the benefits of intelligent-ready buildings to their business customers.

As a low-churn, long-term revenue stream, the intelligent-ready building concept enables operators to yield strong results at a time when many are facing an increasingly competitive consumer market that is dampening profits.

In addition, an intelligent-ready building can apply AI to data collected from the network infrastructure to learn, predict and evolve, and so improve its efficiency. An efficient, cost-effective building will attract more tenants, which has knock-on benefits for any operator associated with it.

The roll-out of intelligent-ready buildings has been limited so far, but investment is growing, with several of the highest-profile examples found in operators’ own buildings. We expect the area to grow quickly, as it combines several trends that will persist long into the next decade, including data, AI, office optimization and sustainability.

Operators can underpin the connectivity of intelligent-ready buildings, with 5G small cells used for indoor spaces, or private mobile network slices used to guarantee connectivity. By playing a vital role in the infrastructure of an intelligent building, operators are elevated from “pipe providers” to value-sharing partners, blending connectivity, edge computing, IoT and managed security within a single contract.

Telefonica has been keen to promote its expertise in intelligent buildings, showcasing its offerings at MWC as early as 2022. In collaboration with Siemens, Bookker and Bim6d, the showcase touted the advantages of integrated solutions, including the use of AI and digital twins to manage and predict the needs of a building. The variety of partners in the showcase — a telecom operator, a building automation specialist, a software-as-a-service provider and a building information modelling firm — illustrates the integrated approach needed for intelligent buildings.

Telefonica’s announcement is timely, as many businesses incorporate hybrid working, and optimization of office spaces is essential to creating an efficient workspace with a good employee experience. CCS Insight’s survey of IT leaders found these dynamics are prompting increased investment in office-based IT infrastructure. Although few operators are reporting public partnerships to develop intelligent buildings today, the slow-moving nature of the building industry and long lead times mean Telefonica’s early development of its expertise may put it in a strong position for the future.

BT offers another example. The operator has invested in its premises across the UK as part of its Better Workplace programme. Through a partnership with Cisco to create intelligent-ready infrastructure in its offices, it has reduced costs and improved its sustainability metrics by lowering energy usage.

In 2024 BT stated that only 20% of its workforce commutes to the office on a Friday. By using historical data collected from a building, as well as accounting for events taking place that day and factors affecting commuting, such as the weather, its intelligent building systems can predict the number of floors that need to be open to accommodate the expected number of workers, reducing the energy cost of operating floors with few or no occupants.

The BT offices go beyond a macro view of each floor and use heat maps to understand where workers are moving about in the building. This information allows facilities management operations to allocate cleaning resources to areas with more activity during the day, such as events, and reduce usage of cleaning equipment and materials.

BT is not alone in encouraging the roll-out of intelligent-ready buildings through the redevelopment of its own office space. Singtel has recently begun a S$3 billion development of its Comcentre building, which it says will be operationally carbon-neutral.

Telefonica’s partnerships and BT’s tie-up with Cisco show how operators need to work with different digital and building system integrators. However, operators will also have to work with regulators, property managers and architects to insert themselves into other parts of the supply chain as intelligent buildings become more frequent.

The drive for sustainability and cost-cutting will encourage improved efficiency of office buildings. Although the progress of intelligent buildings is slow, we expect demand for this technology to grow over the next decade. We encourage operators to collaborate with system integrators, building companies, property managers and others to seize the opportunity.