An Integrated Techno-economic Framework for SMS Delivery Optimization in 4G/5G Networks

Abstract

Short Message Service (SMS) remains a critical signaling-layer communication mechanism in 4G and 5G mobile networks, particularly within Application-to-Person (A2P) ecosystems supporting authentication, financial notifications, public services, and IoT fallback signaling. The transition to LTE packet-switched delivery and further to 5G Service-Based Architecture (SBA) introduces dynamic routing, SLA differentiation, multi-channel fallback, and cost variability. Traditional Quality of Service (QoS) indicators are insufficient to assess operational efficiency in such environments. Furthermore, Artificially Inflated Traffic (AIT) distorts economic performance without necessarily degrading technical KPIs. This paper proposes an integrated techno-economic framework for SMS delivery optimization in next-generation networks. The framework introduces the Price Delivery Gap (PDG) as an economic deviation metric and develops the Integrated Gap-Delivery-Performance (IGDP) model combining QoS, Quality of Experience (QoE), and PDG into a unified optimization function. An intelligent architecture incorporating message categorization, AIT detection, adaptive routing, and closed-loop monitoring is presented. Scenario-based evaluation under mixed A2P traffic conditions demonstrates reduced economic deviation and improved integrated efficiency compared to static and partially adaptive approaches.