UK Telcos are Leaving 50 Percent of Customer Value on the Table - Simon-Kucher Study Outlines Roadmap to Capture It
The Global Telecommunications Study 2025 reveals significant Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) growth potential through Simon-Kucher’s HELP Framework - prioritising Happy, Engaged, Loyal, and Paying customers.
[London, 18th September 2025] - Simon-Kucher, the world’s leading commercial growth and pricing consultancy, unveiled findings from its Global Telecommunications Study 2025. The research shows that UK telecom operators are realising about 50 percent of their full customer value potential and are lagging behind a global average of 60 percent. The study calls on operators to pivot away from expensive, customer 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 emphasise 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 monetisation levers, telcos can increase CLTV by 11 to 43 percent. Refocusing on the base offers a clear path to stabilising ARPU and building sustainable, profitable growth.”
Key Findings for the UK market
- Happy - Satisfaction Shortfall: UK telcos trail compared to non-UK peers and other industries, averaging a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 7 compared to 14, a global Telco average, and 16-80 across other sectors.
- Engaged - Engagement Drives Loyalty: About 60 percent of customers contact their provider annually, but more than 65 percent of those issues are not resolved on the first attempt. If managed well, regular touchpoints can be an opportunity, as more than 50 percent of customers who call more than 10 times per year are ‘promoters’.
- Loyal - Loyalty Pays Off: 95 percent of value comes from customers with three or more years’ tenure; they represent 70 percent of the base and spend 5 percent more than new customers.
- Paying - CLTV Upside in Broadband: Average mobile CLTV stands 15 percent above the global average at £2,000, while broadband CLTV is 60 percent higher at £3,200 (30 percent above the global average). 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 schemes, and drive targeted digital engagement can convert satisfaction and interaction into measurable lifetime value. The HELP Framework gives operators a standardised benchmark to assess performance across these levers and a roadmap to capture the 50 percent of customer value that remains untapped in the UK.
“British Telcos that treat customer lifetime value as a strategic KPI and focus on their existing customer base will be best placed for growth” said Rory Sweeney, Partner in Simon-Kucher’s London office “Increasing customer satisfaction, delivering frictionless service touchpoints, deepening loyalty, and expanding up- and cross-sell initiatives will unlock growth while safeguarding profitability in a UK market that is experiencing large shifts.”
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 behaviour - 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.
Janine McCormac
Email: Janine.McCormac@simon-kucher.com
Rory Sweeney
Email: Rory.Sweeney@simon-kucher.com
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 optimising 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.