The CPQ Bottleneck: 5 Ways Telco B2B Deals Go Wrong
Generic CPQs are costing Telcos $40BN annually
Independent Omdia research on why legacy CPQ is holding back telco B2B growth.
Telcos are racing into B2B, but most are still relying on CPQ and quote‑to‑cash systems built for a simpler era. The result: missed deadlines, unprofitable deals, compliance exposure and billions in revenue leakage.
To uncover the real bottlenecks, CSG partnered with Omdia to survey CSPs worldwide on how they sell, price and quote today. The CPQ Bottleneck reveals the five hidden failure points holding telcos back - and a practical blueprint for transforming CPQ into a true B2B growth engine.
Telcos are evolving beyond connectivity
Omdia’s research validates that B2B is now the primary growth engine for telecoms, with enterprise demand increasingly extending beyond traditional connectivity. The majority of large B2B deals now combine connectivity with cloud, applications, security, and managed services — fundamentally increasing commercial and operational complexity.
Current CPQs Are Inadequate
As B2B deals become more complex, CPQs will emerged as a critical enabler of speed, accuracy, and profitability in enterprise sales. Omdia finds that CSPs will increasingly rely on CPQ platforms to support strategic goals — from faster bid turnaround to managing multiservice pricing, approvals, and fulfilment. Currently today:
CPQs will play an increasing role
Despite their growing importance, Omdia’s data shows that most CPQ platforms are failing to keep pace with telco B2B requirements. CPQ limitations are contributing to missed bid deadlines, compliance risk, and significant revenue leakage — costing CSPs billions globally each year.
Five Actionable Insights
Adapt CPQ for Beyond‑Connectivity Deals
With 61% of large enterprise deals spanning multiple beyond‑connectivity services, CSPs should assess whether their CPQ can configure, price and fulfil complex, multi‑service offers without manual fixes.
Use CPQ Earlier to Win More Bids
Although 74% of CSPs view CPQ as strategically critical, one‑third still miss bid deadlines. Bringing CPQ upstream into the sales process helps accelerate approvals and protect margins on complex deals.
Stop Margin Leakage at the Quote Stage
Average enterprise revenue leakage stands at 9% — more than $40B globally. CSPs can reduce losses by strengthening pricing, discounting and profitability controls directly within CPQ before deals are approved.
Build Compliance into Quoting
84% of CSPs say their CPQ cannot keep up with compliance requirements, including sovereignty and regulatory rules. Embedding these constraints into CPQ reduces rework, risk and downstream delays.
Unify Catalogs to Prevent Order Fallout
75% of CSPs say a unified, catalog‑driven architecture is critical. Aligning commercial, service and resource catalogs helps ensure every quote is deliverable, compliant and profitable.
Turn CPQ from a bottleneck into a growth engine
Get the full research, benchmarks, and actionable strategies to fix CPQ inefficiencies and accelerate telco B2B revenue.
Related resources
What Is Composability in Telco CPQ Software and Why Does It Matter?
Why Telecom Order Management and CPQ Systems Need to Work as One to Win B2B
