Over the years, I’ve worked across multiple sides of the Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) ecosystem – from regulatory oversight in Egypt to operational and commercial roles in the VAS and payments space. Joining MCP Insight was a natural next step for me, because it brings together the critical elements needed for a healthy, sustainable mobile ecosystem – commercial success, fraud prevention, regulatory trust, and consumer protection
Last week, I had the pleasure of hosting a webinar focused on a topic that’s close to my heart – how regulators can move from reactive enforcement to proactive oversight in DCB. It was a fantastic session, with valuable contributions from Anzelle Robertson (the new Head of Strategy at World Telemedia, and Board Member at WASPA) and David Ashman (Head of Compliance, MCP Insight). Together, we explored how regulators, operators, aggregators and content providers can collaborate to improve consumer outcomes without limiting innovation or market growth.
A few key points really stood out:
- Visibility is everything. Without real-time insights into advertising and service flows, regulators are often forced to act late – when harm has already occurred.
- Proactive regulation doesn’t need to be burdensome. As David highlighted, with the right tools and support, even small compliance teams can stay on top of risks and reduce the need for sweeping enforcement actions.
- Collaboration is the foundation. Anzelle shared excellent examples from South Africa and other markets, showing how bringing the right people together can shape more effective regulation and create a healthier ecosystem for everyone.
- The right tools and processes make all the difference. With the right systems in place, regulators can achieve both strong consumer protection and support sustainable market growth – there’s no need to choose one over the other.
We also presented a case study from a recent proof of concept we delivered with a national regulator. The results were powerful:
This wasn’t just an exercise in identifying issues – it changed behaviours for the better. The data showed that by improving visibility and offering structured, collaborative pathways to compliance, we can help regulators achieve better outcomes faster, without overloading internal teams or stifling market growth.
If you didn’t catch the webinar live, I encourage you to watch it on demand. It’s full of practical insight, open discussion, and clear next steps for anyone involved in consumer protection, digital payments, or mobile content regulation.
And if anything we covered resonates with your challenges or priorities, I’d love to hear from you. We’re already working with regulators, operators and industry bodies across multiple markets – and we believe the best results come when we tackle these challenges together.
Feel free to reach out to me: bassem@mcpinsight.com
