Lukasz Pozarlik, Product Manager at ADB, explores why fixing connectivity issues before customers notice is no longer theoretical — and how software-led visibility, modern telemetry standards, and AI are reshaping what’s possible for broadband operators.
For broadband operators, ensuring reliable in-home connectivity has long been a costly challenge. The rise of video streaming, video calling, and online gaming makes it particularly apparent. Today’s support model is broadly reactive. Consumers experience problems on their devices. Unsure whether the issue is with their device, their broadband, or a supplier like Netflix, they call their ISP. As support call volumes rise, both support teams and engineers are trying to solve issues armed with only fragmented data that’s hard to interpret at scale.
Everyone recognizes the symptoms: repeat complaints, video quality issues, rising support costs, customer dissatisfaction with their broadband service provider (even when the root cause is outside the ISP’s control) and increased churn risk.
This isn’t a new problem, but today there’s an emerging set of new conditions that are changing the game. They’re making the switch from reactive to preventive service assurance inside the home operationally realistic — not as an aspirational goal, but as a practical next step.
In this article, we’ll outline why preventive service assurance inside the home is now achievable in real operator environments, how AI is helping to make these systems autonomous, and what that means for support costs, customer experience, and scalability.
The limits of reactive support are already clear
Most operators already know that the home is a blind spot. Connectivity issues don’t always originate in the access network. In fact, data we’ve gathered using PRISME suggests Wi-Fi-related problems are the number one technical reason for customer calls. These are shaped by interference, device mix, home layout, usage patterns, and environmental factors that change constantly. By the time a customer calls, the issue may already have passed — or worsened.
Reactive support doesn’t scale well in this environment. It depends on:
- Customers are noticing problems and reporting them
- Support agents reconstruct events after the fact
- Troubleshooting that often ends in trial-and-error fixes
The result is a model that’s expensive, frustrating, and increasingly out of step with customer expectations.
Why did prevention not work before
The idea of preventive or proactive service assurance isn’t new. Some operators explored it years ago, but often with disappointing results. The ambition was right. The ecosystem wasn’t ready.
Historically, preventive approaches inside the home have struggled because:
- Device estates are highly fragmented across vendors, models, and generations
- Visibility typically stops at the gateway or relies on periodic snapshots rather than continuous insight
- Older management protocols like CWMP (TR-069) were not designed for high-frequency telemetry at scale, and often lacked the necessary parameters for modern network diagnostics
- Action often requires agents, hardware refreshes, or manual intervention
In practice, this means prevention is either too limited to matter or too intrusive to deploy widely.
What has changed — and why prevention is now realistic
Several shifts have converged over the past few years, changing what’s possible inside the home.
1️⃣ More efficient telemetry and coexistence
Management standards and architectures have evolved. While earlier approaches enabled configuration and basic monitoring, newer models such as USP (TR-369) support more efficient, event-driven telemetry and allow multiple systems to coexist without conflict. USP consumes roughly 10 times less bandwidth than its predecessor, CWMP.
This matters because preventive action depends on:
- Timely insight, not just snapshots
- Continuous feedback loops, not one-off diagnostics
- The ability to work alongside an operator’s existing systems
Prevention must complement, not replace, what’s already working in an ISP’s network.
2️⃣ Software-led visibility instead of hardware dependency
Today, gateways and access devices expose far richer operational data through standardized interfaces. Instead of relying on custom software installed on each device, modern service assurance platforms can collect telemetry directly from existing device software, across vendors and generations.
This shift matters because it removes several historical barriers at once:
- No agents to deploy or maintain on customer devices
- No hardware refresh required to gain visibility
- No proprietary lock-in to a single vendor ecosystem
Just as importantly, software-based telemetry now supports continuous observation, not just periodic snapshots. That makes it possible to correlate signals over time, detect early degradation patterns, and intervene before service quality drops far enough for a customer to notice.
In practical terms, this means preventive approaches are no longer limited to small pilot groups or premium customers. They can be applied across mixed, real-world estates — including legacy devices — without adding operational friction.
3️⃣ AI acceleration enables higher autonomy
Perhaps most importantly, the rapid acceleration of AI has shifted the conversation around autonomy.
Higher levels of network autonomy — where systems analyze conditions, decide on actions, and execute them without human intervention — are no longer theoretical research topics. They’re becoming realistic near-term possibilities.
This doesn’t mean fully autonomous networks overnight. It does mean:
- Systems can increasingly correlate signals across large populations
- Anomalies can be identified early
- Decisions can be made continuously, not just after incidents
Industry frameworks such as the https://www.tmforum.org/autonomous-networks/ have helped formalise this shift — defining a progression from manual operations to closed-loop, autonomous control.
Preventive service assurance is now about enabling the transition toward higher autonomy — step by step, safely.
What “preventive” actually means in practice
Preventive service assurance doesn’t mean chasing perfection. It means reducing the number of moments when customers notice something is wrong.
In practice, that looks like:
- Continuous, automated micro-adjustments instead of one-time fixes
- Issues addressed before they escalate into complaints
- Clear separation between in-home issues and external factors
- Action taken automatically, without truck rolls or support calls
Crucially, preventive action happens before the customer needs to think about support — not after.
Why does this change the economics of support and retention
When issues are prevented rather than reacted to, the impact compounds quickly.
Fewer problems reaching customers means:
- Fewer repeat calls
- Lower escalation rates
- Reduced pressure on specialist support teams
At the same time, customer experience improves in a way that feels effortless. There’s no new app to install, no behaviour to change, no troubleshooting steps to follow.
Retention benefits don’t come from dramatic improvements overnight, but from fewer small frustrations accumulating over time. Fewer “almost good enough” moments. Fewer reasons to look elsewhere.
The question operators should be asking now
Most operators already know where the pain is.
The more relevant question today is whether existing tools are designed to explain problems after they happen — or to prevent them in the first place.
Can your service assurance approach:
- Operate across a mixed device estate?
- Act without introducing risk or disruption?
- Scale as customer expectations continue to rise?
Preventive service assurance isn’t about replacing everything you have. It’s about whether your operating model is ready for what’s now possible.
Putting preventive service assurance into practice
Preventive service assurance is becoming operationally realistic. PRISME, the service assurance platform developed by ADB, supports proactive, automated action inside the home. It detects and addresses many emerging network connectivity issues before customers notice them and applies preventive actions where possible. The result is reduced calls, higher satisfaction, and lower churn. The ISP or Telco delivers more consistent connectivity at the same time as cutting support costs.
Fully compatible with existing management systems, PRISME integrates seamlessly with an operator’s OSS/BSS and their existing CPE fleet – no truck rolls, no hardware swaps, no agents required on customer devices.
Contact our expert team with your questions about PRISME.
In our next blog, we’ll look at what preventive service assurance looks like in practice, and what ISPs should expect when moving from concept to operation. Follow us on LinkedIn to be the first to hear when that blog is published.
