Why Every MNO Needs an MVNE Strategy Now
Much of that is held up by legacy systems upgrade delays and lack of an integrated technology stack that can help MNOs monetize 5G fully.
While MNO system constraints and support technology work through these growing pains, MNOs need a strategy to maintain and grow their revenue base. That’s where an effective MVNE strategy comes in.
With many MNOs shifting focus towards network optimizations utilizing AI, and upcoming Agentic AI integrations on the horizon, MNOs need an effective platform that prospective MVNO customers can use beyond the “network only” offers - a true MVNE strategy.
This strategy should leverage a dedicated outsourced digital-only BSS backbone system to ensure smooth MVNO onboarding and operations while freeing up legacy systems and teams to continue their legacy system upgrades to meet future AI needs.
GenAI and Agentic AI are Here
Whether your organization is ready for it or not, the AI revolution is upon us. It started with GenAI tool ChatGPT. GenAI platforms in their various forms are now out in the market and being used by businesses and consumers alike. Both MNOs and MVNOs have begun using GenAI in their customer service organizations, building best practice responses to customer inquiries as well as on-the-fly, context-specific answers and product/service offerings to inquiries real-time. This is helping those companies that embrace AI solutions leapfrog those competitors who do not.
Likewise Agentic AI, with Anthropic’s recent 2025 launch of Claude Code, and introduction to the public in 2026, will have an even bigger impact, especially in the customer service realm. It will be able to do live coaching of customer service agents, assess and respond to emails, and route customers to the appropriate party or solution, enabling a significantly reduced staffing infrastructure necessary to handle customer interactions.
The Customer Expects More
Over the decades telco technology has dramatically evolved…from 2G to 3G to 4G to 5G… from copper to fiber…from phone to “smartphone mini-computer in your hand” to lifestyle need.
With that, MNO marketing messaging has focused around “speed is better”. And that benefit was largely clear and understandable to the consumer and how the smartphone was used. Faster speeds allowed a transition in the online world from text to audio then from audio to video. This speed then went from “nice-to-have” to “must-have” with the explosion of everything online and social media platforms.
Customers across Europe see connectivity, the core telecom product, as a utility with bandwidth/speed for their data connection as a baseline requirement, often not thinking about add-on services. IPSOS found that 85% of Europeans think that connectivity is for them a basic need. Customers expect this connectivity, and the experiences it enables, to engage seamlessly into their digital lives.
From an MNO perspective ask yourself, “Are you providing value adds that improve a customer’s lifestyle - or only focusing on the provision of high-speed data?”
Your Legacy Technology Stack is No Longer a Differentiator
Many MNOs find themselves struggling with the weight of their legacy infrastructure - constantly playing catch-up to ever evolving technology. Legacy systems constantly require a never-ending sequence of patches, add-ons, and half-measures that strive to keep up with technology growth while falling short of what a dedicated system designed for current technology provides.
“The telco renaissance is not just about selling data – it’s about becoming an indispensable part of customers' digital lives, and having the right data and platforms to get it right, from day one.” – Mathieu Horn (triPica CEO)
The legacy in-house BSS typically doesn’t integrate with other systems well and so any strategic, customer-focused initiative that involves this technology stack often falls flat in terms of a customer experience. You find your BSS is holding you back, not enabling your success.
Reimagining the MVNO Relationship
MVNOs are no longer trying to build the next MNO. They aren’t competing with you for a massive customer base, they’re leveraging and MNO network to target niche “communities” - truckers (nationwide coverage and fuel discounts), travel (eSIM bundled with free roaming and insurance), religious (family-first and content filters), and enterprise (B2B + connectivity bundles). The MNO can be an over-the-shoulder observer of MVNO behavior and uncover opportunities that can be implemented across the entire network ecosystem.
Going forward you need to look at the MVNO not just as a wholesale customer for you to sell network access to. You need to look at them as your “R&D Department.” They’re not just a fringe distraction, they are your “Innovation Vehicle” you use to test ideas and guide your operational evolution.
By using an MVNO as a "sandbox" or "innovation lab" an MNO can modernize without jeopardizing core, mission-critical legacy operations. You can split off a customer group based on a certain profile, or launch a greenfield digital brand, and work with external MVNOs – using an external digital BSS/MVNE platform. Use this low-risk environment to iterate, test, and eventually scale new capabilities.
An MNO can apply this MVNO agility to overcome MNO inertia - replicating this over and over at scale and applying learnings and successful tests to overall company strategic initiatives involving core systems and primary customer base.
Here are some ways this can happen.
1. Using an external BSS for the MVNO you can separate the commercial operation from the network infrastructure allowing you to gain insights from these tests without jeopardizing your core business. Testing things like pricing models, real-time data bundles, AI-driven customer self-care – all in weeks rather than months required under legacy system models.
2. Digital BSS as an “innovation blueprint” to guide an MNO internal process and technology upgrades. As you build API connection points between the digital BSS and the network, internal developer teams can utilize these new relationships to build off of for internal system upgrades. Also, digital BSSs allow for real-time event streaming whereas legacy systems tend to work in a batching fashion. As internal IT teams observe how the MVNO operates things in the digital BSS environment, the IT team can utilize this learning on internal system innovations.
3. Independent systems keep the legacy core untouched, ensuring a stable, regulatory and security compliant platform is able to run in the background for large scale voice and data services. Meanwhile the MVNO operating under the digital BSS drives product launches, automated customer journeys, and AI implementations.
4. Better migration path is possible by piloting before migration. Rather than performing high-risk “rip and replace” transitions from legacy systems to the modern digital stack, processes can be confirmed as stable before moving high-value MNO subscribers onto a new system.
5. AI implementation in customer service with both GenAI and Agentic AI become simpler to make happen in a standalone MVNO model where your core customer base isn’t impacted. Later, successful AI-integrated customer service models can be introduced to your legacy customers as appropriate.
MVNE Strategy for MNOs
With 5G revenue growth stalling and legacy infrastructure struggling to keep pace with modern digital demands, MNOs must move beyond viewing connectivity as a commodity utility and instead focus on becoming indispensable partners in their customers' digital lives. 6G implementations will likely only increase the pressure on MNO networks to perform, as AI implementations go from add-on to ubiquitous integration, and delaying building non-bandwidth focused lifestyle connection points with their customers will only make those transitions more difficult with the transition into 6G.
Since internal legacy systems often hinder rapid innovation, MNOs should adopt a strategic MVNE approach by utilizing external, cloud-native digital BSS platforms as "innovation sandboxes." By offloading niche customer segments or greenfield brands to these agile, outsourced environments, MNOs can test AI-driven services, real-time billing, and automated customer journeys with minimal risk.
This "two-speed" architecture not only accelerates time-to-market for new features but also serves as a technical blueprint, allowing MNOs to uncover actionable R&D insights, standardize API integrations, and pilot successful process migrations before committing to core legacy system overhauls.
triPica offers a modern, cloud-native, digital BSS that allows MVNOs to launch digital brands quickly and seamlessly. MNOs can utilize this same support system as their innovation platform.
Reach out today to learn more.
