David Ashman, Head of Compliance, MCP Insight, outlines the key takeaways from MCP Insight’s recent DCB webinar

At MCP Insight, we’ve spent more than a decade working alongside regulators, mobile operators, aggregators andcontent providers in markets around the world. But even with all that experience, I still come away from industryconversations energised when there’s a real sense of shared purpose.

That was certainly the case during our recent webinar on proactive oversight in Direct Carrier Billing (DCB), where I had the pleasure of joining Anzelle Robertson, Head of Strategy at World Telemedia and Board Member at WASPA, and Bassem Akkad, Strategic Partnerships lead, MCP Insight, to discuss how regulators can take a smarter, more collaborative approach to protecting consumers – without stifling innovation or slowing market growth.

What emerged from that conversation was a strong sense of alignment. Coming from different vantage points within the DCB ecosystem – Anzelle and Bassem with deep experience across regulatory and commercial strategy, myself focused on policy and compliance monitoring and analysis – we kept coming back to the same four themes. These aren’t new ideas, but together they offer a blueprint for how the ecosystem can evolve into something more sustainable, moreeffective, and ultimately fairer.

1. Collaboration: it starts with the right people in the room

If there’s one point Anzelle made that truly resonated, it’s that collaboration isn’t just a buzzword. It’s about deliberate, structured engagement – getting the right mix of MNOs, regulators, aggregators, and content providers together, in a neutral setting, to define a shared vision.

We’ve seen what happens when that doesn’t occur. Market players end up working in silos, reactive enforcement increases, and consumer trust declines. But when collaboration happens early, it creates the conditions for meaningful reform – not just top-down regulation, but co-created frameworks that balance protection with growth.

2. Transparency: visibility is power

Anzelle used a striking metaphor during our session: “You fear the lion you can’t see, not the one you can.” It’s an aptreminder that regulators cannot act effectively – or proportionately – without insight into what’s really happening in the market.

We shared results from a recent proof of concept with a national regulator, where MCP’s tools were used to deliver near-real-time visibility of over 113,000 adverts. The outcome? A 95% drop in red- flag issues, a 91% drop in repeat problems, and significantly reduced internal burden on the regulator. When issues were surfaced early, behaviours changed.

Transparency also extends to the broader ecosystem. It gives operators clarity. It builds trust with consumers. And critically, it enables a regulatory posture that’s responsive, not punitive.

3. Standardisation: a stronger foundation for compliance

Standardisation is often seen as a blocker to creativity – but as both Anzelle and I emphasised, it’s actually the opposite.Standardised payment flows, consistent compliance expectations, and aligned monitoring and fraud prevention tools and requirements help level the playing field and eliminate the race to the bottom.

Without agreed standards, bad actors exploit ambiguity while good providers are penalised for doing things properly. With standards, the rules are clear – and enforcement becomes less about guesswork and more about shared accountability.

4. Differentiation: let the best players win

Once the fundamentals are in place, differentiation becomes not just possible, but powerful. Providers should befree to innovate with creative user experiences, compelling service design, and effective customer engagement – as long as they’re doing so within a fair, trusted framework.

This isn’t about one-size-fits-all regulation. It’s about making sure that the right boundaries exist, so that the playerspushing for quality and value can thrive – and those looking to cut corners are forced to step up or step out.

What struck me most during the webinar wasn’t just the quality of the discussion, but the genuine consensus around these principles. There’s no single model that works everywhere. But the ingredients for sustainable success are clear – and they’re already being demonstrated in parts of Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia and beyond.

To regulators, MNOs, aggregators and service providers reading this: now is the time to double down on these four pillars. Not as a compliance exercise, but as a commercial and strategic imperative.

The future of DCB depends on it.

Explore the full discussion on smarter oversight, featuring insights from Anzelle Robertson, Bassem Akkad and David Ashman. The webinar is now available to watch on demand: https://mcpinsight.com/watch-on-demand-collaboration-proactive-approach-consumer- protection-dcb-worldwide/

Author

David Ashman is Head of Compliance at MCP Insight, responsible for helping clients across the value chain manage risk and compliance effectively, and protect their bottom-line. Having specialised in the telecommunications, financial services and payments sectors, David has significant riskmanagement, audit and compliance experience. MCP clients can access this expertise to help them develop best practice frameworks around compliance, risk and audit and build strong relationships with regulators.