Turning network autonomy into a commercial growth model

As 5G and FTTx networks expand, CSPs face a structural challenge: the complexity of running commercial-scale networks is growing faster than traditional operating models can handle. Fragmented OSS/BSS stacks, siloed planning and operations processes, and increasing dependence on specialist expertise are making networks harder to scale efficiently. Manual intervention remains deeply embedded in fault management, configuration, optimization, and service activation, driving up costs and slowing service delivery.

The Catalyst project, Agentic network growth engine, addresses this challenge by bringing together ServiceNow and Blue Planet in a standards-based architecture. ServiceNow provides the business and service operations layer, supporting intent capture, service ordering, trouble ticketing and customer engagement workflows. Blue Planet provides inventory, assurance, orchestration and agentic network automation capabilities across multi-vendor environments. Together, the platforms use Model Context Protocol (MCP), Agent2Agent (A2A) Protocol and TM Forum Open APIs to enable end-to-end service lifecycle management without bespoke point-to-point integrations. Leveraging TM Forum standards and a multi-partner ecosystem, the solution reduces development effort and accelerates the deployment of autonomous network capabilities.

“This Catalyst provides a validated, open-standard blueprint for autonomous network operations,” helping carriers accelerate from proof-of-concept participation to validated autonomous network use cases based on TM Forum standards. — Daiki Yamashita, Group Leader, KDDI

The challenge of scaling network operations

CSPs are trying to grow services and support new business models while operating with architectures and workflows that were not designed for commercial-scale autonomy. The project team identified a specific integration challenge: standardizing system and functional integration by using TM Forum Open APIs, rather than continuing to build bespoke point-to-point interfaces between OSS, orchestration and service management platforms.

The business challenge goes beyond cost. Autonomous capabilities are now essential if CSPs want to expose network functions externally, support partner ecosystems, and create flexible, API-driven services. Without a bridge between network intelligence and business systems, operational autonomy alone cannot unlock new monetization pathways.

Operating services that span multiple domains also requires best-of-breed OSS/BSS systems coming together within the reasoning/decisioning Agentic AI open ecosystem to address proactive issue isolation, incident management, and timely customer engagement.

A new engine for autonomous growth

The Catalyst demonstrates how agentic AI can coordinate across ServiceNow and Blue Planet to support autonomous network operations, with MCP and A2A enabling cross-platform skill integration. By combining intent-driven orchestration with standardized APIs, the solution can automate trouble handling, resource inventory checks, service order management, resource activation and billing-related processes in a more modular and repeatable way.

Figure 1: Intent-driven B2B Ethernet service journey enabled by TM Forum APIs, agentic AI and MCP/A2A interactions.

The result is a practical path toward higher levels of network autonomy, demonstrating Level 4-aligned capabilities while allowing operators to adopt autonomous operations incrementally. By reducing human dependency and improving real-time situational awareness, the project aims to cut manual workload and mean time to repair while creating a more self-governing network environment and proactive customer engagement autonomous workflows.

Using TM Forum assets to standardize integration

The project uses TMF621 Trouble Ticket, TMF622 Customer Bill Management, TMF638 and TMF639 Resource Inventory, TMF640 Resource Activation and Configuration, and TMF641 Service Order Management APIs. These assets provide a common language for integrating trouble management, inventory, activation, configuration and service order workflows, helping the team move away from custom development and toward reusable, standards-aligned capabilities.

That standardization is central to the commercial opportunity. By exposing modularized communication services through NaaS models and natural language intent, CSPs can accelerate value-added service delivery, while Blue Planet and ServiceNow reinforce their roles as key enablers of open, standards-based service orchestration, autonomous operations and Network-as-a-Service delivery. For Accenture, the project also supports its positioning in autonomous operations enablement, activating proactive SLA monitoring and remediation with Blue Planet and customer business interactions closed-loops with ServiceNow.

Measuring success

The project’s business impact is clear: reusable TM Forum Open APIs and interoperable capabilities can reduce the development effort associated with custom integration while creating a more scalable path to autonomous operations. Catalyst results demonstrated a 57% reduction in MTTR through autonomous, multi-layer root-cause analysis; up to a 95% reduction in service-provisioning effort; and an 83% reduction in service-design workload. The project also identified an estimated 30–40% OPEX-reduction potential. Together, these outcomes show how standards-based interoperability can turn autonomous network capabilities into faster, lower-cost service delivery.

Why it matters

This Catalyst connects two transformations that are often treated separately. One is the move toward autonomous networks. The other is the reinvention of telecom business models through composable, API-driven services. By combining both, the project offers a practical and scalable pathway for CSPs to become AI-native telcos.

For operators under pressure to reduce OPEX while creating new value from network investments, that combination is significant. It means autonomy is not just about efficiency. It becomes the basis for new commercial growth and operational cost efficiencies.