Starting with a Robust Core Network Infrastructure

Your core network is your underlying infrastructure that you will use to manage and maintain your operations. As a full MVNO, you will control your entire core infrastructure, including GMSC for voice, GGSN for data, HSS/HLR for services, and your own system and processes for billing. All traffic will go through the radio network from the MNO, and then to your own dedicated core. Your core network will include features such as, aggregation of service provider networks, distribution networks and edge networks, authentication so that you can ensure that the user is able to complete their service of choice, service invocation such as call switching, forwarding, or hold, and gateways to access additional networks where necessary. Of course, for true global connectivity, you’ll need contracts with multiple MNOs, to reach the regions you want to cover.

You will also want this core to be LTE/5G-ready, and to incorporate network slicing so that you can manage differing use cases such as mobile vs IoT, or the vast differences between various IoT use cases.

Understanding How to Monetize your Services using a Smart BSS

If you can’t bill for your services, you don’t have a business, period. Your billing system needs to be integrated, and as flexible as possible so that you can cover new and emerging use cases, especially if you’re looking towards IoT. After all, it’s not yet clear what the real money-spinners of the IoT arena will be. Here are just a few of the billing methods that can help you see true business growth as a full MVNO.

• International services: Give subscribers the freedom to use cellular devices anywhere, sidestepping high roaming charges. Think about something similar to Three’s Go Roam initiative, where they allow UK-based subscribers to roam free abroad in 71 countries.
• Bundle offerings: You want to be able to package together whatever offerings you choose, from voice services and data, to third-party additions. Being able to do this under a single unified monthly cost is a true differentiator.
• Specialized niche services: Think about new IoT use cases for example, some of which require low data throughput and high signalling, or vice versa. All of which depend on battery life for viability, which means latency must be considered front and center. How will you charge for inherently low-ARPU devices?
• Bill on Behalf of (BoBo): Let’s say that you want to provide connectivity services to a Utilities customer, who in turn wants to serve their own customers. You need to make sure to build your billing system to handle this complexity, adding multiple hierarchies of customers to suit this kind of use case.

Adding the Right SIM to the Mix

Now let’s think about SIM cards. SIM cards are what allow subscriber devices to register onto the network, and to be authenticated and managed remotely. Today, there are regular SIMs, eSIMs, uSIMS, and more. Each SIM has its own IMSI code, depending on the country, the network, and its unique identifier. Traditionally, as an MVNO you’ll need to purchase these from an MNO, alongside an agreement that you play by their rules. This may include roaming agreements, compliance laws, SLA, and more.

Sounding Kind of… Complicated? Keep Reading

Eliminating the complexity of this journey is exactly where BD Innovations found our bread and butter. Why should this be lengthy and difficult, when in fact – it can be out of the box?

Let’s look at those three elements again, but this time through the lens of our own turnkey solution.

A Core Network

We include all core network elements, through a simple commercial agreement, pre-connected to existing MNOs around the globe. Just take your pick of which ones you want to utilize, and you can be operational in weeks or months.

Billing and Invoicing

Integrated with a flexible Business Support Solution, all the billing use cases above are supported as standard, plus anything else you could think of to boot. Integrated with customer relationship management, a smart self-service portal, and device management, start seeing the value of your services immediately.

The xSIM Era

Our SIM solution is free of any roaming restrictions or complicated compliance laws. A multi-country solution based on the cloud, we use local outbreaks to ensure connectivity is always best-in-class, globally.

We package these features as our FULL MVNO offering, allowing you to hit the ground running as a full MVNO without any of the heavy lifting.

Now it’s your turn. Tell us about your own MVNO use case, and find out what we could offer you.