BY SCOTT WEIR, PRESIDENT COMMUNICATIONS & MEDIA
Editors Note – this opinion piece was first published on The Fast Mode and is republished here with their permission.
Across the globe, there’s a huge push underway to expand broadband and fibre infrastructure. Governments, investors, and communication service providers (CSPs) are spending tens of billions & doubling down on the rollout of high-speed networks to meet growing demand for always-on connectivity. But as the industry accelerates fibre deployment and scales broadband access, CSPs are facing a new challenge: managing the commercial complexity that comes with it. With the investment focus on build-out of networks, the systems underpinning customer growth are often an afterthought.
From provisioning fibre connections – which are inherently more complex than traditional networks – to creating and delivering personalised bundles that integrate a myriad of own and partner sourced products and services, today’s CSPs are grappling with a more intricate landscape. This new environment requires more than just network investments. It calls for a modern approach to business operations – especially in bringing commercial agility to how services are launched, monetised, and managed, along with a customer experience that reduces friction from sales to self-service.
Enter: The Need for a Modern BSS
Legacy business support systems (BSS) were built for simpler times (think landlines and dial-up). They weren’t designed to keep pace with the rapid evolution of broadband services, fibre infrastructure, or the digital experiences customers now expect. The result? Many CSPs are finding that their existing BSS can’t support the level of agility and scalability the market now demands, driving customer churn and margin erosion.
Many CSPs are facing increasing operational costs while facing challenges from OTT players who build innovative products and services. With the right solution, these challenges can become partnering opportunities to augment existing bundled products to create greater customer value, in turn driving longer customer lifetime value for a CSP.
And it’s not just about network complexity. Industry consolidation – where CSPs are acquiring or merging with fibre and broadband companies – is adding another layer of operational challenge. Understanding what assets have been acquired, how to unify operations, and how to integrate and monetise the combined business effectively all require a next-generation BSS solution that’s flexible, integrated, and ready to scale.
The Smarter Way Forward: Agile, Scalable BSS “In-a-Box”
What CSPs truly require to face these challenges is a Cloud Native turnkey digital BSS solution that is purpose-built for today’s broadband acceleration era. They need solutions that avoid the massive, expensive, and time-consuming transformation projects of the past – and instead, offer a low-friction, modular approach that reduces complexity and delivers results fast. This allows them to reach value in a shorter timeframe & achieve greater autonomy in how they bring new product offerings to market.
As CSPs invest in fibre rollouts and expand broadband access, now is the time to modernise your BSS and really hone your commercial agility to realise the investment in infrastructure.