With AI, MCP servers, and automation stealing the IBC 2025 headlines, spare a thought for all the vendors handling the unglamorous tasks that grease the wheels of the media and entertainment economy. We are talking about the companies doing the dirty work such as international tax, foreign currencies, and payment plug-ins—without which subscriber management would collapse. Not only that, but the new breed of billing services and subscription management providers are increasingly sources of inspiration for novel forms of monetization. Once lumped under the OSS/BSS banner, this domain was dominated by telecom dinosaurs such as Amdocs, CSG International, Netcracker, and Ericsson. But as OTT disrupted the model, new contenders emerged with lighter, faster systems designed specifically for streaming—the likes of…