Voice of Customer Network & Wireless Services Survey, Global, 2026

This Frost & Sullivan 2026 Voice of the Customer survey analyzes enterprise network priorities and the growing role of NaaS across a global sample of 1,200+ IT decision-makers. The research shows that enterprise networks are expanding and becoming more distributed, increasing demand for reliability, uptime, and observability as core provider differentiators rather than pricing alone. Security has emerged as the central organizing principle of network strategy, while artificial intelligence (AI) and data-intensive workloads are driving significant growth in bandwidth and performance requirements.

The branch is evolving into a digital edge environment, where security, monitoring, and application density converge, creating opportunities for integrated managed solutions that combine connectivity, security, and edge capabilities. Enterprises prefer providers with infrastructure ownership and end-to-end accountability, reinforcing the importance of converged network and security portfolios.

NaaS interest is strongest in multi-cloud connectivity, edge security, and software-defined networking, with enterprises prioritizing operational control, application programming interface (API) integration, and on-demand capabilities over traditional ordering features. However, adoption is constrained less by technology and more by internal enterprise processes such as legal approvals and procurement complexity, highlighting a key barrier providers must address.

Author: Stephen Thomas