Launching a new mobile network leader

Introduction

By early 2020, the big three players in telecom–AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile–had grown to massive scale. Then, T-Mobile moved to expand even further by making a bid to acquire Sprint. But to gain approval from federal regulators seeking to protect competition in what has become a vital service to our society, T-Mobile was required to sell a portion of Sprint’s base.

At the same time, after a decade of commoditization of cable and satellite services and the rise of Over-the-Top content streaming services, DISH recognized the opportunity to diversify. DISH agreed to acquire Boost Mobile, then a part of Sprint, entering the market as a fourth major mobile network.

The challenge

Building a new mobile network would inherently involve a multi-network, multi-brand reality. DISH would need to provision services for, and manage millions of Boost subscribers across the existing networks while, at the same time, build their own new network from the ground up. Scalability and interoperability would become the linchpins for success. And for this to work, a modern infrastructure was critical.

“For us to win, we couldn’t follow the same playbook from the past 30 years,” says Rob Bennett, Senior Vice President, Retail Wireless Technology at DISH Wireless. “On all fronts, we needed to innovate. We thought there was an innovation factor with the Wavelo team that would help us do things differently.”

The solution

Wavelo’s cloud-native, flexible software is designed precisely for DISH’s challenge with a modular infrastructure that seamlessly integrates with existing systems, while building a foundation for new technology.

Key to this approach is an event-based architecture, where every event or state change (e.g. an account creation, subscriber activation, number port in/out) continuously publishes instant, uniquely identifiable records that are automatically consumed by the appropriate internal and external applications. This allows changes to customer records, subscriber billing, and network provisioning applications simultaneously, without delay or disruption to existing systems or operations.

Leveraging this flexibility and modularity, DISH and Wavelo could build the telecom platform of the future, together. DISH’s in-house, custom-built digital operator system (DOP) could run key aspects of the customer experience and retail space, while Wavelo’s software was integrated to manage billing, charging, and provisioning across multiple networks and brands as the new network was built.

“We now have a modular, flexible system for billing and provisioning that partners with our enterprise-class digital operator system,” says Bennett. “We can use it at the microservices level, versus the more monolithic systems of the past.”As a result, DISH was able to offer customers customized services on its own 5G SA network, as well as service millions of existing mobile customers acquired from Boost until those legacy Boost customers could be migrated to the new network. A modern foundation had been built–without disruption to customers, while offering an efficient and flexible way to grow DISH’s new network.

As a result, DISH was able to offer customers customized services on its own 5G SA network, as well as service millions of existing mobile customers acquired from Boost until those legacy Boost customers could be migrated to the new network. A modern foundation had been built–without disruption to customers, while offering an efficient and flexible way to grow DISH’s new network.

Immediate results and what's next

DISH was able to seamlessly onboard its first one million Boost subscribers to DISH’s DOP without delays or service interruptions. And with a modernized, singular stack across business and operations systems, the next six million subscribers were migrated to DOP in just five months–a first in telecom, making DISH an industry leader virtually overnight.

Along with the unprecedented speed of launching a new network, Wavelo’s modular and flexible platform allows DISH to enter new markets efficiently and cost-effectively. Some of the advantages of this modern infrastructure already include:

• Flexible and configurable plans
• Consolidated billing, for both pre- and post-paid plans
• New offers deployed securely in hours instead of weeks
• Reduced cost structure
• Increased visibility across products and services

Now firmly established as the fourth nationwide facilities-based network, DISH now offers mobile customers more choices while creating a healthier ecosystem of competition and innovation in the industry as a whole. Wavelo and DISH continue to work together to accelerate growth, innovate products and services, and create new ways to better service customers across all touchpoints of the business.