How Operators Can Boost 5G Revenue from Diverse New Partners

The arrival of satellite connectivity, network APIs, eSIM proliferation and 5G-Advanced capabilities, and the digitization of adjacent industries, is creating new business opportunities for telecom operators. Many brands from other sectors are also interested in offering telecom services to deepen their relationships with their audience. However, to seize these opportunities, operators must ensure that their billing and revenue management systems can enable emerging new business models.

The End of the Linear Telecom Value Chain

The business model for communication service providers used to be relatively simple. Operators built networks, sold subscriptions and typically billed customers monthly. The value chain was linear and the relationships were straightforward. That era is coming to an end, at least for operators that wish to offer new services and significantly grow their revenue.

Now, a single, wholesale revenue flow could involve a mobile network operator (MNO), a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE), a celebrity-backed mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), an aggregator platform and an enterprise developer using one or more network APIs, alongside the traditional end-user customer. Satellite connectivity adds complexity as users’ data traffic might roam onto a satellite network, alongside the terrestrial mobile network. In both cases, each party must be billed accurately, often in real time, with revenue allocated correctly and full regulatory compliance maintained — potentially over multiple jurisdictions. The complexity can quickly multiply as more paths become possible. If there’s a straightforward means to manage these relationships, for example through a single-pane-of-glass solution, it opens new ways to generate revenue from those new paths. This is the proposition that business support systems provider, MDS Global, is leading on.

These are real scenarios. For example, YouTuber Mr Beast plans to launch an MVNO in the US. Multiple operators have partnered with MVNO brands, such as T-Mobile US’s acquisition of Mint, which was previously backed by Ryan Reynolds. Football clubs are moving into the telecom sector, for example AC Milan’s launch of ConnectVerse in Italy. In Saudi Arabia, energy drink company Red Bull has a mobile service. The combination of more streamlined business systems and eSIM makes it easier to launch and run an MVNO.

Similarly, offering satellite services alongside a terrestrial network is becoming the norm. Starlink has numerous contracts with telecom operators. AST SpaceMobile, Lynk and Skylo are also competing to help operators expand to universal coverage using satellite connectivity. And, on the devices side, Apple iPhones (with Globalstar) and Google Pixel phones (with Skylo) have basic satellite connectivity included. Soon, it’ll be unthinkable for a mobile operator not to have a satellite partner.

With eSIM, Apple is making the market and increasing the pace of adoption. Having created eSIM-only iPhone models for the US in 2024, in 2025 it unveiled the new iPhone Air, which is eSIM-only — including in previously slow-to-adopt markets like China. Before long, Apple is likely to make the whole iPhone range eSIM-only, and both Apple Watch and the iPad have eSIM options. Where Apple leads, other device-makers swiftly follow.

Operators that plan to sell these devices must support eSIM management. The new partner relationships prompted by eSIM bring new revenue opportunities for operators in both consumer and enterprise markets. Management solutions must be adaptable to the different needs of consumers and of businesses managing fleets of eSIM-enabled devices, including phones, laptops and industrial devices. This, compounded by multiple profile swaps and changes, introduces another way to build value in operators’ revenue propositions.

Network APIs Are a Revenue Catalyst

Through the GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative, the CAMARA standards project and TM Forum, the industry is systematically exposing network capabilities through standardized interfaces that work across different operators. Its momentum is significant: the October 2025 CAMARA release included 60 APIs, with 10 classified as stable, 27 as updated initial APIs and 23 as entirely new.

Alongside these standards efforts, aggregator platforms are creating the scale that developers need. Nokia’s Network as Code initiative reports 77 partners. Aduna, the joint venture between Ericsson and 12 major operators including AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone, is building a global access point for enterprise developers.

Age and Identity Can Be Securely Checked Using Networks APIs

The commercial applications are increasingly attractive. Operators are deploying Know Your Customer APIs in 10 countries, offering age verification, tenure checking and identity matching capabilities that are timely given the global focus on online safety regulation for children. Rather than requiring people to upload government-issued identification documents to multiple third-party services — with all the associated data risks — enterprises can securely use network APIs to verify age and identity using information that operators already hold.

Quality on Demand APIs, which enable short-term network performance boosts, are being deployed by operators in markets including Brazil, China, Germany, Spain and the US. China Mobile has already offered 5G-Advanced-branded temporary boosts for gamers and video streamers. Similarly, Singtel and T-Mobile US have tied premium connectivity experiences to live sporting events. Network APIs can give companies access to these capabilities too.

Each of these API categories demands different charging models. Some will be billed per call, others through revenue shares or volume-based arrangements. High-value anti-fraud APIs will command very different pricing to commodity location checks. When these are layered over existing subscription plans, usage-based billing and event-driven charges, the complexity escalates rapidly with the numerous combinations. Operators must have the right systems in place to offer the full range of pricing models.

The Complexity Trap

In isolation, each new charging model — whether usage-based, subscription, event-driven, guaranteed-performance or API-call-based — might be manageable on a legacy billing system with enough implementation effort. But these models won’t exist in isolation. They’ll be combined, layered and recombined in configurations that multiply complexity far beyond the sum of individual parts. This could create a hornets’ nest unless a single revenue solution can handle all these scenarios.

Consider a person with a standard subscription plan who activates a short-term quality boost for a concert. The concert provider may use a Know Your Customer API verification through a third-party app. This could all happen on a small, branded MVNO that operates through an MVNE on a host mobile network provider. The revenue management system must handle the subscription billing, the event-based charge, the API call settlement, the MVNO-MVNE-MNO revenue share and the regulatory compliance obligations across all parties. Ideally, this will happen in real time so that the customer knows what they’re paying for without waiting for their monthly bill.

Most existing systems weren’t designed for this level of complexity. Operators risk innovating with these new revenue models using existing platforms that appear capable enough for the first scenario, only to discover they’re in deep water when the second, third and fourth models are layered on top.

Location, Time and the New Pricing Dimensions

Beyond APIs, operators are gaining new pricing levers that complicate business requirements further. For example, location-based charging could allow differential pricing in congested areas such as stadiums, train stations and city centres. Time-of-day pricing, analogous to airline seat pricing, could incentivize usage during off-peak periods and charge more during sports matches or peak commuting hours.

These capabilities are powerful, but they demand real-time processing, transparent communication to customers and seamless integration with customer care systems. They also introduce new legal and regulatory compliance requirements around tax, antitrust, child protection and data sovereignty that vary by country.

Building the Foundations Now Is Essential

New types of company are moving into the mobile market. They have different expectations of how to operate and how to manage billing relationships. For example, fintech companies are starting to launch MVNOs. Similarly, finance companies are involved in new device sales, and the circular economy of second-hand phones has its own set of players that manage the process and assure quality devices.

The operators that modernize their revenue management infrastructure now will be best prepared for the future and will have the freedom to innovate. A capable, modern system, such as MDS Global’s offering, will support the experimentation that’s essential to enable new API business models to pivot from an initial approach that fails to gain market traction. This will attract partners and enable the new revenue streams for 5G that are widely hyped by the industry. Operators can then transition from a simple, linear value chain to enabling a value network that spans multiple partners and layers. This is the key to boosting their revenue.