Teneo.ai
For the CFO
As your regulatory team has likely flagged, the FCC NPRM on call center onshoring will materially change the contact center P&L. Here is the operating-model angle they may not have brought you yet.
How peer telecoms are sequencing the routing-layer change. No pitch.
15 minutes on the numbers. No pitch.
RELEVANCE
The proposed rules require carriers to make routing decisions in real time, at every customer interaction, based on the nature of the call: is it sensitive, is it routine, is the agent qualified in English, is the agent in an embargoed jurisdiction, did the customer request a US-based representative? Those decisions cannot be made by a contact center agent after the call is connected — they have to be made by the routing layer before the call is routed.
US contact center labor costs run materially higher than the offshore equivalent. A naive "relocate everything onshore" response to the FCC rule expands your contact center cost line by a margin not absorbed in any current operating model.
SCENARIOS
Here is why the architecture determines which.
Scenario 01
Scenario 02
Scenario 03
Scenario 01
Full US relocation
Offshore Customer Service Repatriation:
Bring all offshore customer service back to US labor rates within the FCC final-rule timeline
Direct Labor Cost Impact:
Significant
Real Estate and Capital Expenditure:
Meaningful — new US facilities or expanded existing footprint
Implementation Feasibility:
Low — Charter is the only carrier that has publicly committed to this path and only as a merger condition with an 18-month runway
Scenario 02
Wait and react
Inaction Until Final Rule Publication:
Take no action until the final rule is published
Competitive Disclosure Risk:
A competitive disclosure label that shows you below peer carriers on US-handled percentage
Regulatory Compliance Timing Risk:
Scrambling to comply on a regulator-imposed schedule rather than your own
BPO Partner Negotiation Risk:
BPO partner contract renegotiation in a sellers' market when other carriers move first
Scenario 03
Hybrid (AI plus targeted onshoring)
AI-Driven Routine Call Handling:
Use AI to handle routine call volume that resolves on its own, reducing offshore dependency without 1:1 onshore replacement
Onshore Staffing Strategy:
Targeted at sensitive transactions (mandatory) and complex escalations (high-CSAT impact)
Cost Profile:
Incremental investment in AI orchestration layer, partial offshore reduction, modest US capacity expansion
Implementation Feasibility:
High — this is the path industry analysts and even labor groups acknowledge as inevitable
Want a financial scenario
walk-through?
15 minutes on the numbers.
MODEL
Each of those requirements has the same root: the routing decision has to be made deterministically, in real time, before the human is engaged. Two ways to solve it:
PRECEDENT
Charter's $34.5B Cox acquisition was approved with a public commitment to onshore Cox call center operations within 18 months. Charter's financial model for the deal almost certainly does not assume full US labor rates on Cox's entire offshore call volume — that math does not work. What it assumes is that AI-led automation absorbs enough of the volume to make the onshoring of the residual operationally and financially viable.
DUE DILIGENCE
Each of those requirements has the same root: the routing decision has to be made deterministically, in real time, before the human is engaged. Two ways to solve it:
What percentage of our inbound calls are sensitive transactions (mandatory onshore)?
What percentage are "resolvable without a human" — and have we tested AI on that volume?
What is our current offshore BPO contract exposure, and when can we renegotiate?
What does our broadband label disclosure look like today, and what do we want it to say?
Who is on our short-list of voice AI partners that can run at our volume?
TENEO
Teneo is the AI orchestration and resolution layer that makes the hybrid model work. We integrate with your existing contact center stack (Genesys, NICE, Five9, AWS Connect — we do not replace it).
The hybrid model.
Teneo is the AI orchestration and resolution layer that makes it work—sits on top of your existing stack.
No replacement.
Integrate with Genesys, NICE, Five9, AWS Connect. We work with what you have.
Published outcomes.
30% cost reduction, 100% Level 1 automation, 50%+ Level 2, 99% first contact resolution, 60 days to deploy.
The controllable variable.
When you model the hybrid scenario, the AI partner cost is the controllable variable.
Level 1 support automated
Level 2 support automated
First contact resolution
Operational cost reduction
Typical deployment timeline
15 minutes on the numbers. We bring the model, you bring the questions.
FCC NPRM 26-16 was adopted on March 26, 2026. Public comments are due May 26, 2026; reply comments are due June 22, 2026. Final rules are expected 12-18 months out and may differ materially from the proposal. This page reflects our reading of the rule as of publication.