Roaming settlement standards rarely make headlines, yet they determine whether 5G standalone roaming, and the IoT and satellite services that are taking place alongside it, can be monetized as well as technically switched on. The GSMA's rollout of BCE 2.0, alongside a new simplified TAP0 record structure, shows that the industry's billing backbone is being rebuilt for a multi-network, multi-technology era. Below, we look at what BCE 2.0 changes and where operators are struggling to keep up, followed by the approach Syniverse has taken to help.
What BCE 2.0 Changes
BCE 2.0 is the latest version of the GSMA's Billing and Charging Evolution standard. It adds support for operator groups and a report structure built specifically for 5G SA traffic exchange. It also introduces invoice confidentiality, which lets operators share total invoiced amounts without exposing their underlying charging model. Legacy TAP was not designed to carry 5G SA wholesale charging, so operators that want to launch 5G SA roaming must move to BCE. Kaleido Intelligence projects that BCE will handle over 40% of global wholesale roaming settlement by 2030, and most operators are targeting 2026 to 2027 for deployment.
Where Operators Are Getting Stuck
BCE 2.0 carries no backward compatibility, so an MNO or its BCE agent must adopt it outright to participate in settlement under it. Expertise is a limiting factor, with 53% of operators still citing a lack of in-house BCE expertise as their biggest obstacle.1 Partners will also migrate at different speeds, which means an operator that is ready for BCE 2.0 may still be exchanging traffic with partners that are not. Legacy billing infrastructure adds a further barrier. Few MNOs can justify a core billing overhaul just to exchange a new record format with a handful of partners.
TAP0: A Bridge for the Transition
TAP0 was created for the gap between partners that have moved to BCE and partners that have not. It is a simplified TAP record structure with the charging information removed, built to carry traffic data for 5G SA as well as the NB-IoT and LTE-M IoT technologies, even when one side has not yet migrated to BCE. Data keeps flowing throughout the transition, and operators can migrate in stages instead of facing an all-or-nothing cutover. TAP0 does not replace the BCE process, but is a stepping stone towards it, giving operators a practical way to reach full BCE adoption at their own pace.
How Syniverse Removes the Upgrade Burden
Syniverse became the first roaming services provider worldwide to achieve GSMA BCE 2.0 compliance, with the standard built directly into Universal Commerce, which is already deployed by 90% of BCE-compliant operators globally. Universal Commerce and the Data Clearing Systems sit in front of an operator's existing billing stack as a clearing and settlement layer, so MNOs do not have to touch their own systems to participate. The platform can generate TAP records on an MNO's behalf even when the internal billing system has no native TAP0 output. It also converts in both directions between BCE and TAP0, turning a BCE 2.0 settlement into TAP0 for a partner who has not migrated, or an inbound TAP0 record into BCE for one who has. Each record is routed and validated against what the receiving partner can process.
MNOs can engage Syniverse for targeted conversion work only, or hand off TAP and BCE clearing and settlement entirely in what Syniverse calls a build-your-own BCE model. The BCE offering includes scalable charging models for 5G SA and network slicing, along with simplified TAP-to-BCE migration tooling. BCE 2.0 and TAP0 are supported side by side.
Satellite Support and Industry Recognition
Universal Commerce platform automates settlement, which leads to faster dispute reconciliation. The same platform reinforces Syniverse's Satellite Services solution, building on its NTN billing framework with Sateliot. Satellite operators, whose charging models neither TAP nor earlier BCE versions could support, now have a direct path onto the same settlement rails as terrestrial carriers. Industry analysts have taken notice. Juniper Research named Universal Commerce its top BCE platform and Syniverse its top satellite connectivity solution. Juniper also named Syniverse global IPX leader in 2026, and Kaleido has ranked Syniverse the clearing and settlement leader since 2022.
“Every major advance in BCE compliance has come through Syniverse first, and BCE 2.0 is no different. With Universal Commerce deployed by 90% of BCE-compliant operators worldwide, our customers have never had to wait for settlement infrastructure to keep pace with their ambitions.” — John Wick, Chief Product Officer, Syniverse
Source:
1. Kaleido Intelligence BCE MNO Survey Q1 2025
