Ask AI’s take: The latest benchmarking of roaming customer experience (CX) in 2026 reveals that only a select group of telcos have optimised the end-to-end roaming journey, setting a high bar for the industry. The best-in-class roaming CX is defined by frictionless discovery, intelligent plan design, seamless purchase and activation, and a superior in-destination experience. If your roaming CX does not deliver on these pillars, there is a clear gap compared to the industry leaders.

1. ​End-to-end journey optimisation
   Top telcos excel across five critical stages—attract, discover, purchase, activate, and experience—ensuring customers encounter minimal friction and maximum flexibility throughout their roaming journey. This includes clear visibility of roaming options, intuitive navigation, and one-click journeys for plan selection and purchase.
2. Discovery and plan design
   Leaders provide roaming options that are easily accessible across multiple channels, with prominent placement on homepages and main screens. They offer advanced searchability by country and duration, transparent package information, and the ability to customise or bundle packages, including advance purchase and scheduling.
3. ​Seamless purchase and activation
   The best performers ensure payment flexibility, a streamlined purchase process with minimal required inputs, instant activation, and clear confirmation/documentation. Activation is automated or requires minimal effort, providing instant access upon arrival at the destination.
4. ​Superior in-destination experience
   Real-time visibility of roaming status and usage, easy renewal processes, flexible plan management, and efficient journey completion (from discovery to activation) are hallmarks of top roaming CX. The total steps and time required to set up roaming are minimised, enhancing customer satisfaction during travel.
5. Strategic value creation
   Leading telcos are transforming roaming from a basic connectivity service into a strategic growth and loyalty driver by reducing friction and increasing flexibility, thus elevating both revenue and customer satisfaction.
6. Clear opportunity for improvement
   If your roaming CX does not match these standards—particularly in seamless digital journeys, real-time engagement, and flexible plan management—there is a significant opportunity to enhance both customer loyalty and monetisation potential.

Sources:

• Roaming - Telco CX benchmarking

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Twimbit Cisco Webex CX Leadership Roundtable

We hosted second roundtable with Cisco in Mumbai on 30th April, bringing together a diverse group of forward-thinking CX leaders for an evening of meaningful and candid conversations. The roundtable centred on the same theme highlighting how organisations across industries are navigating the shift from AI experimentation to real-world impact, while balancing customer outcomes with operational priorities.

CX leaders across sectors shared how they are tackling critical questions from whether AI is truly being deployed for customer value or cost efficiency, to how organisations can move beyond conversational AI towards systems that execute end-to-end actions. The discussion also explored key challenges around voice as a complex yet essential channel, alongside the growing importance of data sovereignty and AI governance in an increasingly uncertain global landscape.