Cerillion Blog - BSS/OSS

The Cerillion Customer Forum returned for 2026, bringing together customers and colleagues for two days of knowledge sharing, product innovation and collaboration. With discussions spanning AI, digital transformation, operational excellence and the future of BSS/OSS, this year's event gave our customer community a valuable opportunity to share experiences and help shape the Cerillion product roadmap.

Telecom operators are finally putting hard numbers against their AI investments, with some targeting billions of euros in additional revenues and savings. But calculating what AI is actually worth is far from straightforward. Is AI really delivering the returns being promised, and how should operators measure its true value?

The biggest AI model isn’t always the best one for the job. As AI usage scales and inference costs mount, could specialised models provide a more cost-effective, sovereign foundation for an AI-native telecom stack – and how can operators orchestrate the right model for each task?

Wi-Fi carries a huge proportion of the data we consume every day, but it is often overlooked as telcos invest billions in fibre, 5G and spectrum. Are operators neglecting the network their customers actually use the most?

The one-time password has long been the default bridge between mobile networks and digital identity. But as SMS authentication becomes increasingly vulnerable to fraud, operators are beginning to offer network-based verification as an alternative. Can they turn that capability into a scalable commercial service?

Starlink began as a niche satellite broadband provider serving customers beyond the reach of traditional telecom networks. Today, SpaceX, the company behind Starlink, appears to be pursuing a far more ambitious goal: becoming a fully-fledged hybrid telco combining satellite coverage with terrestrial spectrum and infrastructure. Is the telecom industry’s next major player another operator, or a space company?

BSS/OSS transformation remains one of the biggest and most complex undertakings for CSPs, but many of the decisions that determine whether a transformation succeeds are made much earlier. Why do so many transformation programmes struggle before a single line of software is deployed?

For years, broadband providers competed to make switching as frictionless as possible – now, BT Group has brought activation fees back. How are AI, increasingly sophisticated routers, and easier switching changing the economics of customer acquisition?

As AI adoption accelerates, some believe that AI tokens could become the next billable unit, with operators acting as distributors of AI services in much the same way they once sold connectivity. Adam Hughes asks the question: should operators be selling tokens or commercialising the outcomes they enable?