As businesses push for growth, they are becoming more willing to accept higher levels of risk. A recent survey found that 58% of boards of directors plan to increase their risk appetite in 2024-2025, signaling a shift away from traditional risk management practices. However, many risk leaders are struggling to keep up, often lagging behind other business functions in their use of data and analytics. Today, most still rely on qualitative data and outdated tools, making them ill-equipped to handle the complexity of modern risks.
The Problem with Siloed Risk Management
For years, telecom operators have categorized risk into isolated areas—security, fraud, financial risk, regulatory compliance, and customer experience—treating each as a separate function. This “drawer” approach has led to fragmented risk management, where teams work independently without recognizing how risks interconnect. The result? Gaps in oversight, blind spots in accountability, and inefficiencies that make telecom operators more vulnerable to emerging threats.
This siloed structure is particularly problematic for assurance teams, which often focus on their immediate scope rather than considering broader interdependencies. Without a unified risk strategy, organizations struggle to anticipate and mitigate threats effectively.
The Changing Face of Telecom Risk
Regulators are also shifting their approach. Instead of imposing rigid, isolated controls for security, fraud, and compliance, they now expect risk-based assurance frameworks that recognize the overlap between these areas. For example, in mobile money services, regulators are no longer issuing separate mandates for fraud detection, security, and AML compliance. Instead, they require a holistic framework that accounts for how these risks influence one another.
A weak Know Your Customer (KYC) process doesn’t just increase fraud—it also elevates the risk of financial crime, regulatory fines, and reputational damage. Treating these risks separately leads to inefficiencies, whereas a unified approach strengthens resilience.
A New Approach: Unified Risk Assurance
At GSMA FASG#31, Mobileum and Unitel presented a new model for telecom risk and assurance, advocating for an integrated, cross-functional approach. The framework presented emphasized:
1. Breaking down risk silos to create a dynamic, interconnected risk ecosystem.
2. Aligning risk and assurance teams under a common framework.
3. Linking risk management with advanced analytics to monitor and respond to emerging threats.
4. Proactively engaging with framework recommendations to ensure adaptive compliance and reporting.
By adopting this holistic risk strategy, telecom operators can transition from reactive risk management to a proactive, integrated assurance model, enabling them to mitigate threats more effectively and drive business growth.
Seeing the Full Picture
Risk assurance in telecom must evolve from a fragmented, siloed model to a connected, strategic framework. Recognizing the relationships between different risk areas will improve not only compliance and security but also operational efficiency and customer trust.
Telecom operators can no longer afford to manage risk in isolation. By breaking down internal silos and fostering collaboration, they will be better equipped to handle the complexities of today’s risk landscape. It’s time to move beyond outdated approaches and start seeing risk as a connected, ever-evolving challenge that requires an integrated response.
The Vision Behind Mobileum RAID 9
This need for a unified approach to risk assurance was the driving force behind the development of Mobileum RAID 9. Recognizing that risk management must integrate people, processes, and technology, RAID 9 was designed to bridge gaps between different assurance functions, enabling telecom operators to leverage AI, automation, and data-driven insights in a cohesive framework. By breaking down traditional silos, RAID 9 helps risk leaders proactively address threats, enhance compliance, and drive business resilience in an increasingly complex telecom ecosystem. 
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