The MVNO Operator's AI Playbook

Why telecom is locked

Running an MVNO means living inside a maze you didn't design. You have a reseller agreement with an MNO or MVNE. They gave you a web portal. Maybe an API spec with 200-page PDF documentation from 2019.

The result: every operational action — activating a subscriber, assigning a package, checking fleet health — requires a human to log in and click through a UI, or an engineer to maintain a custom integration against a REST API that changes without notice.

That's not a product problem. It's an infrastructure problem. The OCS (Online Charging System) that runs your subscribers doesn't know what an LLM is. It doesn't speak natural language. It speaks JSON over HTTPS with a token in a query parameter. Somebody has to translate.

Carrier is that translator.

What AI changes

The promise of AI in telecom isn't chatbots. It's operational leverage.

A fleet of 10,000 eSIMs generates continuous signals: usage spikes, expiring packages, network roaming patterns, balance thresholds, churn indicators. Today, most of that signal goes unread. Your ops team checks the dashboard once a day. Automated jobs run batch reports nobody has time to act on.

With an AI that has direct, type-safe access to your OCS, that loop collapses. Instead of a report, you get a decision. Instead of a batch job, you get a Claude session that:

Identifies the 14 subscribers consuming unusual data at 2am
Cross-references them against their package expiry dates
Flags the 3 that are likely to churn before the next billing cycle
Drafts the retention action for your approval — or executes it autonomously if you've set that policy

That workflow exists today. It takes 30 seconds to set up with Carrier.

The Carrier approach

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is the standard that makes this possible at scale. MCP gives an AI model a structured, authenticated interface to external systems — not a browser, not a prompt with a screenshot, but a type-safe function call with validated inputs and structured outputs.

Carrier exposes 103 MCP tools across your entire OCS surface:

Reseller tools — account listing, balance management, eSIM status aggregation
Subscriber tools — full profile, location, status, traffic restrictions, HLR bitrate
Package tools — assign, modify, expire, delete, recurring management
Template tools — create and modify package templates, throttling, pricing
Network tools — location zones, steering lists, destination prefixes, tariffs
Intelligence composites — churn risk scoring, fleet health aggregation, usage anomaly detection, package optimization, network coverage audit

Every tool is Zod-validated end-to-end. Scope gates enforce that read-only tools don't require write permissions. Destructive operations require explicit admin scope. Your AI can't accidentally modify what it shouldn't.

Install in 30 seconds

Add Carrier MCP to Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, or Windsurf:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "carrier": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@carrierllc/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Or via Claude Code CLI:

claude mcp add --transport http carrier https://mcp.carrier.llc/mcp

On first run, Claude will open an OAuth 2.1 flow. You authenticate once, paste your eSIMVault API token, and Carrier stores it encrypted in a per-user KV vault. Every subsequent tool call uses your token — nobody else's.

Verify the install:

Run the fleet_health_report prompt.

You'll get a structured health summary of your entire eSIM fleet within seconds.

5 workflows that change how you operate

Fleet health report

fleet_health_report

Run this every morning instead of logging into your portal. Carrier aggregates eSIM status counts, low-balance accounts, active vs suspended ratios, and utilization rates in a single call. Output is structured prose you can act on immediately.

Churn prediction

churn_risk

Pass a subscriber ICCID. Carrier analyses usage trends, package status, balance trajectory, and last-activity timestamps to produce a churn risk score from 0 to 100 with retention recommendations. At scale, run this across your full subscriber list with a batch loop.

Package optimization

optimize_package

For any subscriber, Carrier compares their actual data/voice/SMS usage against every available package template and recommends the best fit. Useful for reducing churn from over-provisioned subscribers and increasing ARPU from under-provisioned ones.

Revenue analysis

revenue_optimization

Surfaces underutilized packages, upgrade candidates, high-cost subscribers relative to package value, and markets with growth headroom. Equivalent to a quarterly business review, on demand, in two minutes.

Bulk operations

bulk_operations_planner

Plan and execute mass operations safely. Example: "assign 2GB EU package to all subscribers in account 42 whose packages expire in the next 7 days." Carrier dry-runs the operation first, shows you the scope, and waits for your approval before writing.

What Carrier doesn't do

Carrier wraps the eSIMVault OCS. It doesn't replace your MNO contract, your GSMA RSP infrastructure, or your SM-DP+ provider. It doesn't manage eSIM profiles at the physical SIM level — that's your RSP vendor's surface.

Carrier is not a billing engine. It reads and writes OCS balance fields, but it doesn't replace Stripe, Recurly, or your wholesale settlement layer.

Intelligence composites are analytical — they produce scores, recommendations, and structured analysis. They don't take action on their own. Every write or admin operation requires an explicit tool call with validated parameters.

Getting started

The Free tier gives you all 20+ read tools — enough to build full observability across your fleet before you commit to anything. Pro ($49/month) unlocks all 103 tools. Enterprise adds white-label, multi-tenant, and dedicated MNO partnerships.

If you're running a live eSIM operation and want to see Carrier against your real data before deciding, email hello@carrier.llc. We'll set up a sandbox session with your reseller ID.

Install Carrier MCP Read the docs