CSPs are looking for monetization opportunities with 5G networks. 3GPP is driving a good portion of this, with the introduction of the network slicing concept and the expansion of the charging framework to include additional nodes such as the NEF and NWDAF. This gives CSPs the opportunity to sell tailored network slices to tenants, and also to charge for those on different metrics than what has been traditionally used, such as network performance, mobility, API exposure, and more. 

The charging stack is being consolidated into the converged charging system (CCS), but does combining the online and offline charging realms into a single component address all the needs of new business models? What about non-3GPP data sources, such as MEC applications? It seems likely that offerings will become more complex, especially those involving non-telco enterprises. Consolidating onto a single charging node may lead to data silo issues for the BSS applications behind it. Also, is it flexible enough to quickly adopt to whatever 5G monetization trends emerge?  

As the core network is being virtualized and moved to cloud-native infrastructure, the supporting systems around them must also go in the same direction in order to leverage OPEX improvements, increase agility, and decrease time-to-market for innovation. 

From a functional standpoint, policy control has an enhanced role in 5G, with the ability to enforce policy definitions outside of the traditional quota-based domain. Being able to provide policy decisions across network generations is likely also a key component in managing CSP infrastructure in a smart way. 

Another area of improvement for policy would be to finally provide closed-loop automation of policy enforcement through integration with BSS and OSS systems. In order actually to do this, an open, flexible and vendor–agnostic platform will be key. 

Cloud-native applications are certainly part of the future of the policy control domain as well, aligning with the 5G service-based architecture. PCRF and PCF might even merge into a single application.

Understanding the health of the network and subscriber experience is certainly not getting easier when the network becomes virtualized, and instances can be spun up on the fly to support network slicing. OSS-type functions are also being brought into the monetization space to support new 5G monetization opportunities through the network data analytics function (NWDAF). 

Getting a complete overview of the network’s operational health will also require interacting with a mix of physical and virtualized assets across network generations, adding complexity. 

A given is that data volumes will radically increase, and more OSS data will come from real-time interfaces. Similar to the BSS and policy control domains, the shift from physical to cloud–native deployments is underway in the OSS domain as well.