A solution to legacy number management systems fit for the IoT era

Commercial context

Outdated number management systems pose significant barriers to efficient operations, scalability, regulatory compliance, and integration with modern technologies—all critical for future success among CSPs. These limitations negatively impact the cycle time for number and activation porting, obstruct the evolution of new telecom domains, and impede the delivery of products and services to future-oriented markets like the IoT.

These legacy systems are often characterized by isolated data silos and a lack of network reconciliation, leading to data inconsistencies and ineffective resource management. The complexity of silos creates troubleshooting bottlenecks, delaying issue resolution, while limited reporting capabilities affect network visibility and problem identification. Reliance on ‘patchwork’ solutions to add functionality on top of legacy code results in a fragile and error-prone system, which is unsustainable for any CSP. To overcome these challenges, CSPs must update their systems to execute core functionalities from a single platform with automation capabilities. These upgrades are essential for improving efficiency, reducing operational expenditure, and achieving comprehensive performance analysis and advanced insights.

The solution

What’s needed is a reusable number management and activation framework which provides interoperability amongst industry players and with regulatory bodies. This is the objective of the Interoperable logical resource management platform Catalyst, which is developing a solution based on TM Forum Open Digital Architecture (ODA) to follow industry best practices for open architecture and data interoperability. The GB991 core frameworks ensure that the core concepts and principles of the solution align with established standards and are compatible across the industry. The data model, derived from the Aggregate Business Entities (ABE) specifications within Shared Information Data (SID), enables seamless data exchange with other systems.

TM Forum's Open APIs are used as the exposure layer for the solution. A comprehensive analysis of the TM Forum API suite, including both published and unpublished specifications, assessed their suitability for adoption and proposed extensions to ensure they meet industry standards. The framework is designed to transform number management systems for the IoT era, replacing fragile, siloed legacy systems with a cohesive, scalable, and modular platform.

Wider application and value

The framework is poised to become the industry standard for CSPs transitioning from moribund legacy number systems to a future-proof, agile, logical resource management platform. The project team estimates that the solution can deliver a 25% increase in operational efficiency - this significant achievement is largely due to the suite of TM Forum Open APIs for managing logical resources, portability, and pool management. Extensive design analysis and implementation have validated the usability and versatility of these APIs across diverse numbering use cases.

According to Girish Mahajan, Senior Manager - Network OSS & Automation at BT, “the Catalyst Program's in-depth analysis yielded an API implementation library that will empower CSPs to build, maintain, and integrate future-proof logical resource management and porting system. As we validate the usability and diverse application potential of these APIs across various numbering use cases, we are paving the way for industry-wide adoption by establishing a best-practice template for future implementations.”

Crucially, the framework demonstrates the potential to support the ever-evolving digital assets and services arising from the increasing connectivity of machines and 'things'. This burgeoning market demands rapid activation and porting capabilities – with this framework CSPs can now confidently provide them.