PARTNER FEATURE: As mobile network operators (MNOs) enter a new phase of reinvention and growth, new revenue generating opportunities are crystallising in the forms of AI, connected edge intelligence, ultra-low latency services and cloud enablement. GSMA Intelligence has reported that mobile technologies and services currently generate approximately 5.8% of global GDP which equates to around US$6.5 trillion of economic value added. This figure is set to grow to nearly US$11 trillion by 2030 driven by increased take-up of mobile services including 5G, IoT and AI[1].

These areas offer attractive opportunities for operators but are substantially different from their traditional communication-focused service portfolios. What’s needed now are enhanced convergent billing capabilities that are fit for purpose for the digital era. These need to combine automated operations with integrations to payment platforms, such as Visa and Mastercard as well as banks and other financial institutions, while also ensuring compliance and security.

MNOs now regard unified prepaid and postpaid billing, secure payment flows and real-time data mediation as foundational building blocks for enabling automated lifecycles and large-scale processes. They need platforms that deliver true flexibility, reduced operational costs and the ability to scale up faster. Beyond these capabilities, the next step is to enable automated real-time charging so services can be delivered and charged for on-demand.

Into the modern service arena
The new service landscape involves automated enablement of a wider portfolio of telecoms and IT-related services than ever before. An enterprise user might need a specific level of bandwidth to support an AI workflow or a consumer could require a ‘turbo boost’ for an ultra-high definition gaming session. This needs to be provided automatically without interruption or inconvenience and charged for in the moment not at the end of the month. Traditional telecoms billing cycles are no longer suitable and integrations with various payment methods are needed to ensure frictionless, automated payment for this new breed of services.

At the same time, the arrival of technologies that make provision of mobile services simpler has transformed MNO offerings. Embedded SIM (eSIM) has taken the complexity out of provisioning, enabling users to adopt individual and business profiles depending on their usage scenario and mobile operators are supporting this at scale while ensuring security and authorisation are maintained. These foundations have set up mobile operators for the next generation of modern telecommunications but they now need a platform to manage services that provides them with control, transparency and operational confidence.

Platforms for flexibility and future growth
While significant capabilities have been made available to MNOs in previous generations of the Effortel Mobile Suite (EMS), the company has released EMS 5.0 to meet the current and future demands of operators. While EMS 4.4 is being utilised by MNOs such as Telenet in Belgium to manage everything from service provisioning to processes such as SIM activation, service barring, deactivation and number portability, while also enabling integrations with payment gateways such as Stripe, EMS 5.0 puts next-generation capabilities in place.

EMS 4.4 also embedded network services directly into products, let operators monetise voice, SMS, and data with flexible charging models, such as one-time, recurring or bundled. This included direct 5G service integration with Vodafone in Italy, for example, whereby 5G activation could be tied to product purchases or self-care actions, giving operators a modern revenue driver.

Monetisation of 5G is a significant challenge involving substantial complexity and EMS 4.4 addressed this by enabling a 5G non-standalone (NSA) evolved packet core service to be provisioned at the product level and activated during purchase via a simple service state change or through self-care channels. This gave subscribers the flexibility to enable 5G when they need it, while operators maintained full control over how and when the service is rolled out.

The EMS platform provisions 5G in a defaultoffstate, making 5G instantly available without being active until explicitly enabled. The model allows operators to keep roll-out costs predictable while making future adoption effortless. Flexible monetisation models enable operators to charge recurring fees for 5G access, apply one-time charges or bundle the service into premium offers. Recurring intervals and pricing can be fully configured in the product catalogue, giving operators the agility to adapt their 5G business model to specific market dynamics.

Next-generation operations
With a lot of the groundwork done for the modern MNO in previous versions of EMS, Effortel has now released Effortel Mobile Suite Release 5.0. This latest version transforms EMS into a next-generation platform for MNOs with a versatile lifecycle policy (LCP) engine at its core. This empowers operators to automate any subscriber operation from status changes to notifications and charges across promotions, billing and suspension.

EMS 5.0 delivers this LCP framework that automates subscriber changes from activation to suspension, deactivation, repatriation and, ultimately, number recycling. The platform is designed to ensure operational efficiency and compliance with regulatory requirements around subscriber inactivity. MNOs can simply step in to reactivate or adjust a subscriber’s status or let EMS manage the transitions automatically based on inactivity markets or incoming network events. By integrating this LCP framework into the EMS 5.0 event management module, MNOs can achieve complete visibility and control while reducing their manual workloads that traditionally were needed to track and enforce lifecycle policies.

Taxation with transparency
In addition to the new LCP framework, EMS 5.0 features significant new taxation capabilities and features. A redesigned invoice template enables clearer and more transparent tax handling with net amounts displayed separately for each tax rate. This allows operators and subscribers to see which tax rate applies to which service, aiding visibility into how taxes are calculated and applied.

With the expanded portfolio of MNO services, this clarity is essential. VAT exempt premium services, for example, can be displayed alongside taxable services each with the correct applicable VAT rate detailed in a dedicated grid in the EMS 5.0 user interface. This UI has been comprehensively upgraded for EMS 5.0 by Effortel so it’s easy for users to access the information they need.

To further this aim, the financial order structure has also been refined to enable grouping of subscription-level tax data into separate grids. For customers, this means that bills are easier to understand while the MNO benefits from a structure that supports audits and regulatory checks with minimal effort.

Shared infrastructure for seamless number portability
EMS 5.0 also builds on the mobile number portability (MNP) management capabilities of earlier versions of the suite. Version 5.0 features smart conflict resolution when donor and recipient operators share infrastructure so disputes can be rapidly and accurately solved. A new pausing mechanism ensures numbers are only activated once released, preventing disruptions and enabling smooth, automated transitions. There is a configurable retry mechanism to ensure that any failed requests are automatically retried for uninterrupted processing. Beyond portability, enhanced repatriation and quarantine rules keep number ownership clear and compliant across different MNP providers and operator policies.

An open path to future upgrades
The development path of EMS and the upgrades introduced from Version 4.0 to 5.0 are far more than a standard, iterative evolution of a software suite. The new features and capabilities added reflect the growth of the EMS platform into a trusted foundation for modern operators across the globe. MNOs that adopt EMS now gain not only billing accuracy, smoother operations and compliant portability but also the ability to move faster, sell intelligently and win the trust of customers in increasingly competitive markets.

At the same time, financial operations have become more accurate, transparent and better prepared for achieving regulatory compliance. Customer interactions have been reshaped with silent hours, intuitive notifications and flexible add-ons while, on the technical side, performance has been scaled up for growth through bulk operations, lifecycle automation and support for RDBMS PostgreSQL in addition to the previously supported Oracle. Number portability, taxation and compliance have also been improved to give modern MNOs the confidence to expand across markets.

Perhaps most importantly, EMS 5.0 readies MNOs for their future states. The integration of the Quantum Online Charging System (QOCS), which is the result of more than a year and a half of dedicated research and development, illustrates how EMS is preparing to deliver next-generation real-time charging for MNOs. Although the full power of this will only become apparent in future releases, QOCS in EMS 5.0 lays the foundation for seamless migrations from legacy systems, greater agility through a unified integration layer and accelerated innovation thanks to the consolidated code base.

The journey from EMS 4.0 to EMS 5.0 has delivered MNOs tools to monetise, scale and comply more efficiently, more rapidly and with significantly reduced complexity. The next step, with full QOCS functionality, will empower MNOs to shape the new era of the telecoms industry, enabling them to take full advantage of all the opportunities that the modern, digital marketplace brings.

To enable operators to take up their new positions, Effortel is offering free migration to EMS 5.0 for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). This de-risks the transition, saves huge costs and makes it easy to move to Effortel. To learn how Effortel Mobile Suite Release 5.0 can transform your OSS/BSS efficiency and flexibility, contact Nikolay Stoyanov at Effortel via email or LinkedIn

[1] https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-economy/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/030325-The-Mobile-Economy-2025.pdf