Over the past decade the telecom industry experienced steady and predictable growth through the dominance of the big three of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. Then in January, 2022, Wavelo helped DISH enter the race, launching the fourth major mobile network faster than anyone thought possible. DISH was able to do this by reimagining an infrastructure to support a modern, flexible telecom business. Shortly after launch, Rob Bennett, Senior Vice President, Retail Wireless Technology at DISH Wireless explained the approach this way: “For us to win, we couldn’t follow the same playbook from the past 30 years. On all fronts, we needed to innovate.”
For the first time in many years, the telecom industry found itself in a more open and competitive market. Now it appears that the next generation of telecom is ready to take the stage. And all signs point to MVNOs.
The MVNO Window of Opportunity
Much like how “drag and drop” changed the game for web design and development, modern telecom software is leveling the playing field for telecom service providers. Today’s telecom software is flexible, modular, and easily integrated into other systems. The end result is the ability to launch products and services with unprecedented speed and efficiency.
This puts MVNOs in an enviable position. Shedding the restrictions of outdated technology with legacy networks and operating systems will allow them to create new ways to enter markets quickly while, at the same time, directly addressing consumer wants and needs with greater precision and efficiency. Much like DISH, MVNOs have the chance to create a new approach while maintaining their existing lines of business.
Specifically, MVNOs can now afford the luxury of flexibility in two key areas that are proven drivers of growth in the telecom industry.
Converged Services
In any industry, the ability to offer new services quickly and reliably naturally opens up new subscribers and markets. By removing the constraints of monolithic technology and legacy business models, MVNOs can target specific opportunities on a near on-demand basis. Underserved markets suddenly become much more accessible–to the established providers looking to diversify products and services with new lines of business or even entirely new brands, down to the smaller, upstart businesses.
This ability to differentiate begins to erode the perceived value of slower moving incumbents, while increasing the value of more agile brands in the eyes of consumers. Such is the case with DISH who, after divesting its satellite business and relaunching Boost Mobile as its MVNO brand, is now a major player in two major markets–entertainment and communications. With a flexible technology base, MVNOs can add value quickly without disrupting established business models and without major capital expenditure, erasing two significant barriers to growth. Even non-traditional players such as utilities or content providers can quickly offer specialized or even traditional telecom services in weeks instead of building entirely new systems that would traditionally take years.
Offering a broader catalog of seamlessly converged services gives consumers every reason to choose and remain loyal to a service provider. This newfound elasticity could tip the scales for MVNOs.
Scalable Billing Solutions
One of the most common pain points of every telecom business–but particularly those seeking growth–is solving complex billing problems. This becomes even more important for MVNOs as they frequently utilize multiple networks, tools, and business processes. (This complexity only increases when adding converged services.)
The simplest and most impactful solution is to adopt flexible and modular platforms and event-based software architectures that have the ability to seamlessly integrate with existing systems.
Event-based architectures have gained significant momentum with telcos and for good reason. Unlike APIs, which deliver an entire payload of data to answer a specific query, event-driven architecture continuously delivers data asynchronously allowing the downstream systems to determine if this information is relevant to store, process and deliver an outcome, on demand. This means that products and services can be added, modified and even removed without the risk of over-engineering every platform in the Service Provider’s ecosystem yielding to cost overruns and delays in time to market adoption. This may include the ability to create customized billing rules and structures–including prepaid, top-ups, or postpaid models, ultimately enabling new features and functionality. And not only does flexible billing impact the service provider, but it’s a common complaint–and big opportunity–with end customers.
MVNOs have a sizable opportunity to jump ahead of the competition by leveraging event-driven systems that provide the freedom and flexibility to focus on innovating new products and services without the burden of rebuilding an entire infrastructure to support them.
Powering the MVNO of the Future
MVNOs are poised to disrupt and drive significant growth in telecom by offering more diverse products and services with speed, efficiency and across markets–all without costly and time consuming rebuilds that have blocked growth for years.
Wavelo’s MVNO solution leverages an event-based architecture designed for flexibility, scale and speed to market, and is currently powering hundreds of operators who have unique requirements–including MNOs and ISPs and from established leaders to rural operators. Wavelo makes telecom a breeze.