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Launching a fully digital telco brand in 12 months

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LotusFlare partnered with MTN South Africa to design, build, and launch Pi, a greenfield digital-first mobile brand powered entirely by LotusFlare DNO™ Cloud.

  • First-in-market launch of a digital-first converged platform
  • Full-stack deployment of app and web frontends, core BSS and network integration
  • Fixed-Mobile Converged offering of mobile, FWA, travel eSIM and devices
  • Innovative product features including data-first plans, persistent data, seamless data transfers and digital number porting
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Months to commercial launch
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Early customers are net-new acquisitions
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Travel eSIM destinations

Challenge

A growing demand for a digital-first mobile experience
The South African mobile market is one of the continent’s most advanced. As digital expectations evolved, MTN identified an opportunity to serve digital-native customers, but meeting it required capabilities the existing infrastructure was not designed to deliver.
  • Customer expectations shifted. MTN conducted comprehensive market research over several years prior to launch. The research showed that connectivity was no longer seen as a mobile-only need — customers were seeking combined mobile and home connectivity.
  • In-store contract model. A defined segment of the market did not want to visit stores, sign contracts, or submit physical documentation. They were seeking a more flexible, self-service digital experience as the default.
  • Limited speed to market. The existing BSS platforms constrained the speed of product innovation and limited its ability to respond effectively to changing customer needs.

Solution

A platform built from experience down

MTN selected DNO™ Cloud for its breadth of out-of-the-box features and functionalities to support multi-channel, converged offerings and LotusFlare’s customer experience-led design approach coupled with a rapid, iterative delivery model.

While most BSS platforms originate as billing or provisioning platforms and are subsequently adapted for digital services, LotusFlare took a fundamentally different path. DNO™ Cloud was designed around customer experience from day one, with platform capabilities engineered to bring user journeys to life. LotusFlare refers to this philosophy as “from experience down”—an approach where technology is purpose-built to serve the experience, not the other way around. The result is a cloud-native, composable platform that continuously evolves, empowering CSPs to accelerate innovation, launch new services faster, and respond with agility to an ever-changing digital landscape.

A greenfield digital brand, launched in twelve months

MTN required a platform that could deliver across several capability areas simultaneously, each of which LotusFlare DNO™ Cloud was built to support:

Fully digital onboarding

Customers complete identity verification, including a liveness check, entirely from their phone.

Non-expiring data

Pi is the only mobile brand in the South African market where unused data carries forward rather than expiring after two months.

Multi-line household management

A single account manages multiple lines with automated multi-line discounts that adjust in real time at the time of activation.

5G, FWA, and fiber in one app

At launch, Pi supported 5G mobile, fixed wireless access, and the sale of mobile and FWA devices, all managed through a single Pi account.

Travel eSIM via Nomad

Pi integrated with LotusFlare’s Nomad eSIM platform to offer international travel eSIM coverage across more than 200 destinations.

Real-time order tracking

Customers ordering physical SIM cards receive live delivery tracking directly within the Pi app.
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Our partnership with LotusFlare to launch Pi represents a pivotal step in redefining the customer experience in South Africa. By accelerating our digital capabilities, we are not only transforming how we serve customers but also strengthening MTN’s leadership in a rapidly evolving telecommunications landscape.

Ernest Fonternel

Chief Consumer Officer: Postpaid & Home, MTN South Africa
Launching Pi by MTN Case Study

Outcome

Accelerated customer acquisition and a new standard for digital telcos in Africa
  • Tens of thousands of customers acquired within the initial weeks of operation, establishing a new benchmark for digital brand launches in the South African market.
  • Over 90% of early customers were net-new acquisitions to the MTN network, demonstrating the brand’s ability to drive genuine market expansion.
  • Digital-only prepaid onboarding, eliminating the need for credit checks and tedious paperwork.
  • First MTN brand with multi-line account management and automated multi-line discounts, introducing a new model for household and SME connectivity management on the network.
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Our partnership with Pi is a defining moment not just for MTN, but for the telecoms market in South Africa at large. With DNO™ Cloud at its foundation, Pi represents a bold step forward in reimagining how telecom services are built, delivered, and experienced.

Sam Gadodia

CEO & Co-Founder, LotusFlare

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