Regional broadband provider Direct Communications has launched a mobile service offering by extending its existing operations platform rather than deploying a separate wireless stack.
The company introduced mobile roughly two months after kickoff by leveraging gaiia, the OSS/BSS platform it adopted in 2025 to modernize operations across both its broadband and regulated ILEC business. Because billing, customer management, workflows and checkout were already unified inside the system, Direct Communications was able to configure mobile as another product within the same operational environment.
For many broadband providers, adding mobile requires deploying separate billing platforms, new customer support tools and complex integrations. Direct Communications instead chose to introduce mobile within its existing software stack, allowing the company to launch the new service without custom development or new operational systems.
“The biggest advantage was being able to manage mobile within the same platform as our broadband business,” said Tim May, CEO of Direct Communications. “We avoided stitching together new integrations, which reduced operational risk while ensuring customers experience it as one unified service.”
Mobile plans are integrated directly into the provider’s online signup experience. Customers ordering internet service can add a mobile plan during checkout, bring their own device, port an existing number and activate service through the same purchase flow.
Behind the scenes, activation and lifecycle management for mobile services run through the same automated workflows that handle broadband provisioning and service changes. Customer service representatives also manage mobile and internet services from the same interface.
Subscribers see the services combined as well. Internet and mobile appear within the same customer portal and are billed on a single invoice, eliminating the need for separate accounts or billing systems.
Mobile services are increasingly viewed by broadband providers as a way to grow revenue and strengthen customer retention through bundled connectivity offerings. However, the operational complexity of launching wireless services has historically slowed adoption.
Direct Communications’ launch illustrates a different approach. By building on a modern OSS/BSS platform that already supports broadband operations, the company was able to introduce mobile as an extension of its existing product catalog rather than a separate system.