- Mavenir’s always on the lookout for the next revenue-generating opportunity for operators
- That’s why it worked with Red Hat to develop an AI token-charging platform
- Mavenir suggests three ways operators could make money with the platform
Mavenir’s bread and butter is its mobile core network software, which is deployed across more than 250 operators in 120 countries. But company leadership has an entrepreneurial mind-set and is always on the lookout for the next, new exciting thing in telecom.
That’s why it dove into the deep end with open RAN radios, although that ultimately didn’t pan out.
These days, the company is looking at opportunities in AI. And it thinks AI token software provides a way for operators to cash-in on the AI bonanza.
Today, Mavenir announced a collaboration with Red Hat to launch an AI token-charging and service assurance platform. The partners have created an Integrated AI Platform that enables network operators to monetize AI via token-based consumption plans.
Mavenir’s vision for AI token monetization
In a recent visit to Mavenir’s headquarters in Richardson, Texas, Bejoy Pankajakshan, Mavenir’s chief technology and strategy officer, explained how operators can turn AI tokens into a revenue business.
He said, “Token-based consumption is emerging as the next billing unit for communications services. As AI becomes embedded in subscriber experiences, enterprise workflows and network operations, the question for operators is not whether tokens will matter commercially, but whether they have the infrastructure to control, meter and monetize them.”
In fact, operators in China have already begun packaging AI token quotas as a network service alongside voice and data.
Pankajakshan said there are three ways that operators can make money on AI tokenization.
First, the operator can package AI tokens, bundled with connectivity, as a product for its own subscribers. This includes AI assistant plans billed by token consumption, AI-enhanced network services and operator-branded AI applications. The operator owns the commercial relationship, and the tokens are metered and charged through the operator's existing BSS, using the same infrastructure as today's data plans.
Secondly, the operator can offer enterprises metered access to AI models, compute and developer tooling alongside existing connectivity contracts. Enterprises receive a governed, sovereign AI environment where their data remains on the operator's infrastructure. This would provide a commercially-structured alternative to open-ended cloud AI procurement.
Finally, operators could monetize their existing physical infrastructure, including central offices, edge compute facilities and distributed GPU capacity as the AI inference fabric for third-party applications.
“Token-based billing is intuitive to enterprise buyers and developer teams who already manage token budgets through API pricing,” said Pankajakshan. “For consumer subscribers, the platform allows operators to present token consumption as concrete outcomes rather than abstract counts.”
Mavenir’s Digital Enablement (MDE) platform already handles charging and billing integration for network services. The Integrated AI Platform Mavenir created with Red Hat extends this into AI token metering.
The Integrated AI Platform brings together Mavenir's AI software with Red Hat's enterprise Kubernetes and AI capabilities, delivered on validated hardware from third-party partners.
"Operators are watching AI revenues flow to hyperscalers and third-party platforms while they provide the connectivity that makes it all possible,” said Pankajakshan. “This changes today. The Integrated AI Platform developed in collaboration between Mavenir and Red Hat gives operators the infrastructure to become AI service providers in their own right.”