61% of telco leaders believe regulatory risks will significantly impact their business performance over 2024. This is unsurprising, considering that telecoms is one of the world’s most heavily regulated sectors, with constantly evolving laws around privacy, data security, competition, and more.
In this changing regulatory landscape, BSS can be a CSP’s secret weapon. In this blog, we’ll explore the BSS features and capabilities that can support telcos’ ongoing journey in complying with regulations in the industry and avoiding negative consequences such as fines or reputational damage.
Breaking down the current telecoms regulatory landscape
Regulations in telecommunications serve the same purpose as in any industry: aligning the behavior of companies and individuals with the interest of the public. However, there are some specific goals in the communications industry which the government hopes to achieve through regulation that set requirements apart:
Privacy and data security
Players in the communications industry deal with vast amounts of confidential data, from personal messages and calls to the billing details of large enterprises. As a result, CSPs are placed under more intense government scrutiny than many other companies.
Anti-competition
Telecommunications regulations have to be in place to ensure fairness in the industry, especially considering that many operators offer similar products and services and are present in virtually all markets around the world.
This aspect is especially important in the current landscape, where large tech companies offering alternative calling and messaging services are potentially eating into traditional CSPs’ budgets. For example, traditional operators and over-the-top (OTT) service platforms are currently clashing over the definitions set out in the Telecommunications Act of 2023 in India.
Interoperability
In line with anti-competition regulation, it is also important to ensure interoperability to level the playing field for all operators and make it easier for users to switch service providers smoothly.
Recent regulatory challenges
Around the world, regulations are constantly updated by the relevant regulatory body. In the last decade, considering the evolution of telecommunications services and the restructuring of the market, regulations have changed at a rapid pace to guarantee fairness. Let’s recap some of the recent regulations that have had a significant impact on the communications industry.
European Union Digital Markets Act
In 2024, the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) came into force, adding further regulation to the already comprehensive EU Electronic Communications Code (EECC). The DMA aims to increase fairness by removing market barriers placed by hyperscalers such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon while also setting interoperability requirements for core platform services such as calling and messaging.
Importantly, the DMA also regulates mergers and acquisitions by mandating that all M&A activity be reported to the European Commission and by inhibiting platforms owned by the same company from compiling personal data through their services. Overall, this can make M&A processes even more complicated for telecommunications companies – but also reduces the increasing monopoly that tech companies have over OTT services.
Discover how BSS can support M&A activity in the telecommunications industry here.
Digital Services Act
The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) also came into effect in 2024, regulating online intermediaries and platforms with the objective of increasing user safety and protecting fundamental rights.
This is especially relevant for digital service providers who will now be subject to new rules for targeted advertising, addressing illegal content, and tracing sellers on online marketplaces.
AI Act
The AI Act is the world’s first comprehensive legal framework on artificial intelligence, aimed at tackling AI-related risks and ensuring that all industries use the technology in a safe and sustainable way.
There are several concerns related to AI specified in the Act, from using AI to sort and score CVs automatically to using artificially generated text in customer service chatbots. While not all of the risks set out in the Act apply to all service providers currently, the prevalence of AI is only going to grow in the years to come, and the more AI is implemented in day-to-day business operations, the more careful CSPs will have to be to comply with corresponding regulations.
Learn more about the use of AI in telecommunications here.
Role of BSS in Adapting to Changing Regulations
Amid the evolving regulatory landscape, CSPs need to stay on top of their data and financial management features, customer and partner data handling practices, and more.
Business Support Systems (BSS) have an important role in maintaining best-in-class business processes for CSPs, and by doing so, they can support compliance with regulatory requirements. Let’s explore how.
1. Financial Management Compliance
As business leaders know, financial reporting is one of the cornerstones of regulatory compliance. BSS systems can make this a lot easier by allowing organizations to keep track of billing data, revenues and expenses, penalties, and invoices in an accountable and easily managed way.
Modern BSS solutions can also integrate with financial systems such as ERP or accounting software, which maximizes transparency and makes it easier to notice and resolve any discrepancies.
2. Customer and Partner Data Security
Handling and storing vast amounts of personal data is a sensitive task, especially for large-scale CSPs with customers around the world, in different legislations. Modern BSS systems can support this by storing data in the cloud, offering better protection against cyberattacks, regular back-ups and off-site storage.
Additionally, BSS also allows strict permissions to be established, restricting who within the organization has access to what kind of data, making CSPs’ data handling policies much clearer and more reliable.
3. Interoperability and System Integration
BSS can support compliance with interoperability requirements, as well as help open new revenue streams, by making it easy for other businesses to plug into CSPs’ systems.
BSS which is Open Digital Architecture (ODA) compliant (lives up to standards set out by the TM Forum) has capabilities that make integration with other systems much faster and simpler.
Read more about Open Digital Architecture here.
Conclusion
Telecommunications regulation is evolving as fast as the industry itself. To avoid hefty fines and continue living up to industry standards, CSPs should consider investing in modern, modular BSS solutions that can make compliance easier. With BSS, CSPs can create better data handling policies, enhance financial management and interoperability, and ensure that customers and partners continue to trust their products and services.
