Tencent Cloud sharpens emerging market telco strategy with AI and super apps

Details: Manny Pham; Category: Cloud & Virtualisation; 31 March 2026; 8546 views

Tencent Cloud is ramping up its push into emerging market telecoms, positioning AI and super app platforms as key tools to help operators drive growth and unlock new revenue streams.

Speaking to Developing Telecoms, Fred Sun (pictured, left), General Manager for Europe at Tencent Cloud, said operators across Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia are still focused on expanding user engagement as mobile adoption accelerates.

“The common theme we hear is growth,” Sun said. “Telcos have large subscriber bases, but the challenge is turning those users into more active digital customers and improving monetisation.”

To address this, Tencent Cloud is promoting its “Super App as a Service” platform, which enables operators to integrate multiple services into a single application. The model has already been deployed with operators including Orange, e& and Telkomsel, particularly in emerging markets where app usage remains relatively low.

According to Sun, this creates significant upside. In some cases, operators with hundreds of millions of subscribers have only a fraction actively using their digital platforms.

“If you improve usability and experience, you can drive much higher engagement,” he said.

Alongside super apps, Tencent Cloud is also pushing AI-led use cases, particularly in digital onboarding and security. Eric Li (pictured, right), Chief AI Architect at Tencent Cloud, said demand is growing for AI-powered eKYC (electronic Know Your Customer) and identity verification tools as more services move online.

However, the rise of AI-generated fraud is creating new risks.

“As technology develops, fraud also develops,” Li said. “We are seeing increasing use of AI-generated content and deepfakes, so detection becomes critical.”

Tencent is leveraging its experience in China’s fintech sector to deploy fraud detection tools in overseas markets, while also offering platforms for operators to build AI agents without requiring significant in-house expertise.

Cost remains a key concern for operators in low-ARPU markets, but Tencent Cloud argues that AI adoption can deliver clear returns. Sun said shifting processes such as SIM registration online can reduce reliance on physical retail networks and cut operational costs.

“It’s about productivity gains and making sure the business case works,” he said.

The company is also targeting enterprise opportunities through its sovereign cloud offering, which allows operators to host cloud infrastructure within their own data centres and sell services to enterprise customers.

Despite expanding its capabilities, Tencent Cloud stressed it is not looking to compete with telcos.

“We see ourselves as a partner,” Sun said. “The goal is to help operators grow, improve efficiency and deliver better user engagement.”