As 5G networks mature, Communication Service Providers (CSPs) face growing pressure to turn major infrastructure investments into measurable revenue growth. The global 5G economy is projected to exceed $4.5 trillion annually by 2030. Yet 80 per cent of providers say the full benefits of 5G remain elusive, constrained by business complexity and outdated billing systems. Traditional pricing models cannot support the scale or flexibility required for next-generation connectivity.
Sustainable 5G monetisation relies on adaptive platforms that manage services in real time. Billing-as-a-Service from Infosys BPM helps telecom operators build agile frameworks that unlock new revenue through automation and analytics. These solutions underpin modern 5G monetisation strategies for telecom operators, driving flexibility and scale.
challenges in 5G monetisation
Legacy business support systems were built for predictable usage and simple billing cycles. In contrast, 5G networks handle millions of real-time interactions, from connected devices and IoT sensors to enterprise applications needing instant responsiveness. Traditional batch billing struggles to capture this transaction flow, limiting visibility and slowing modern 5G monetisation strategies for telecom operators.
For CSPs, these limitations have a direct financial impact. Without real-time visibility, operators struggle to enforce critical Service Level Agreements (SLAs) or proactively identify systemic inefficiencies. Manual intervention increases error rates and slows settlements. Legacy platforms make it difficult to introduce flexible pricing or dynamic service tiers. As business models shift toward outcome-based services, these constraints limit agility and profitability.
To stay competitive, operators must move from static, siloed systems to cloud-native, API-driven billing platforms that enable rapid innovation and adapt to evolving customer needs. This modernisation forms the foundation for real-time charging and intelligent monetisation in the 5G era.
real-time 5G charging and billing systems
In the 5G era, customers expect immediacy and precision. Every interaction must be captured and billed instantly through real-time 5G charging and billing systems. Legacy batch models, built for static plans, cannot deliver this responsiveness. These systems link usage data, pricing logic, and customer visibility in one continuous process.
For CSPs, this shift is as strategic as it is operational. Real-time billing increases transparency, builds partner trust, and supports flexible business models such as subscriptions or shared services.It transforms billing from an after-sales process into a live engagement layer that shapes customer satisfaction and revenue velocity.
Key benefits of real-time billing include:
- Greater transparency: Customers track usage and costs instantly, reducing billing errors.
- Faster revenue realisation: Immediate charging accelerates cash flow and financial control.
- Improved operational agility: New products and tariffs launch quickly without major system changes.
- Fewer disputes: Automated validation minimises manual intervention and improves accuracy.
Real-time billing lays the foundation for AI-driven 5G monetisation frameworks, enabling operators to integrate data, automation, and analytics for greater accuracy and adaptability.
AI-driven 5G monetisation frameworks
Artificial intelligence is transforming how CSPs capture 5G revenue and customer value. With networks generating massive volumes of data, manual oversight is no longer practical. AI-driven frameworks use machine learning and predictive analytics to interpret this data in real time, enabling faster, more informed decisions.
Operators deploying AI-driven 5G monetisation frameworks in billing and assurance processes achieve up to 70 per cent faster issue resolution and 60 per cent higher operational efficiency, while service-level breaches fall by over 20 per cent. Predictive models highlight anomalies to prevent revenue loss, while generative AI enables personalised offers based on real usage.
Key capabilities include:
- Predictive assurance: Automatically detects and resolves revenue or service issues
- Dynamic pricing: Adjusts tariffs instantly to reflect demand
- Continuous optimisation: Learns from network data to improve efficiency
By integrating AI with cloud-native systems, CSPs can transform billing into a proactive, data-driven growth engine.
emerging 5G monetisation models
5G is reshaping how communication service providers create value, moving beyond connectivity to industry-specific solutions. As enterprises demand tailored performance, operators are adopting network slicing and usage-based 5G billing models to align pricing with outcomes. Each slice is configured for dedicated latency, reliability, or bandwidth, turning the network into a portfolio of premium services.
These models let CSPs partner across ecosystems and share revenue through integrated digital platforms. Manufacturers, logistics firms, and media companies already use 5G for automation, real-time analytics, and immersive experiences. Tracking consumption and charging dynamically are key to capturing this opportunity.
Key models include:
- Network slicing: Differentiated service tiers with guaranteed performance
- Usage-based charging: Transparent, flexible billing linked to consumption
- Ecosystem partnerships: new revenue streams through APIs, edge services, and analytics
By combining flexibility with data-driven insights, these models help CSPs evolve into digital business enablers, underpinned by intelligent, real-time billing. The next wave of 5G monetisation will blend AI, edge computing, and blockchain to create seamless, trusted digital ecosystems.
Frequently asked question
- Why are traditional billing systems a barrier to effective 5G monetisation?
- What makes real-time 5G charging and billing systems critical for CSPs?
- How do AI-driven 5G monetisation frameworks improve billing and assurance performance?
- What new 5G monetisation models are CSPs adopting beyond traditional data plans?
- What should CSPs prioritise when modernising billing for 5G?
Traditional, batch-based billing systems were designed for static data plans and simple cycles, so they cannot handle the volume, granularity, and real‑time interaction patterns required for outcome-based 5G services and network slicing.
Real-time charging links usage events, pricing rules, and customer visibility in a single live process, improving transparency, accelerating revenue recognition, and enabling rapid launch of new tariffs without major system changes.
AI-driven frameworks use machine learning and predictive analytics to detect anomalies, prevent revenue leakage, and automate issue resolution, which can speed up incident handling and improve operational efficiency while supporting personalised offers.
CSPs are introducing network slicing with differentiated SLAs, granular usage-based charging, and ecosystem revenue-sharing models that monetise APIs, edge services, and analytics for verticals such as manufacturing, logistics, and media.
Priorities include moving to cloud-native, API-first billing platforms, enabling real-time charging and analytics, supporting flexible pricing models, and ensuring the billing stack can integrate tightly with assurance, CRM, and partner ecosystems.
