5G OCS – What you should know as a Mobile Services Operator?

There is a lot of excitement around 5G mobile services. Some operators have already launched 5G services and some are on the verge of launching theirs. There are some new age services using e-sims that are making innovative packaging of the underlying 5G services from MNOs (Mobile Network Operators) and preparing their own value-added 5G services (such as travel e-sims for example).

Whether you are an MNO or an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), if you are offering prepaid packages for 5G mobile services, you are bound to hear terms like 5G OCS and 5G BSS. If you want to know more about these systems and how they could help you with your 5G launch, you are at the right place to know more about them.

A critical function that 5G plans depend on, is real time billing. Let us first find out what is real time billing and then more about 5G OCS and 5G BSS systems.

What is Real Time Billing?

A real time billing is defined as rating and charging of a consumption of a particular service in an online, real time manner. This means deduction of your usage quota in a real time manner. You use some mobile data and your quota is immediately reduced. All your prepaid mobile services are rated and charged real time.

If you are used to 4G mobile data services and if you are receiving online alerts about how much data you have used so far in a day, those alerts are coming to you from a real time billing system.

A real time billing system is a back end system that users don’t associate with when they use the 4G or 5G mobile services. However, this system is responsible for alerting them, rating them and deducting their usage quota in the back end.

As a mobile services operator who is looking for right systems for launch of their 5G services, you need to find a suitable BSS (Business Support System) provider with an OCS (Online Charging System) offering. Let us find out more about these 2 systems.

What is 5G BSS or 5G Business Support System?

A BSS system supports telecom companies on the business side, starting from prospect customer identification and targeting through the CRM system, to converting the target customer as an actual customer and provisioning them on the network, to creating their sales orders, rating and charging their usage, and collecting payments for their consumption.

The traditional BSS systems provided by bigger corporate are not fully up-to-date to support 5G services. They are big, monolith, old technology giants who find it difficult to move fast and adopt quickly to technology changes. A 5G BSS system needs to be in sync with the new age technology of the 5G era and cope up with the low latency, high volume traffic seamlessly.

A 5G BSS system needs to adopt to new trends such as management of e-sims, newer network equipment that are used by 5G services, demands of customer self service portals and CRM systems that are flexible enough to present more meaningful data outcomes to sales people.

It is becoming more and more difficult for telecom companies to rely on the BSS solutions of the old times and they need to start making transitions to the new age BSS systems to support them in the upcoming era of 5G and 6G.

Know more about 5G OCS – Online Charging System

An Online Charging System rates and charges the consumption of a service in an online, real time manner. An OCS system is an inherent component of the greater BSS solution. In some cases, telecom companies implement billing systems from one vendor and use an OCS system of another, because the original billing system provider does not support them with the OCS function.

Is there any difference between OCS for 5G and OCS for 4G?

Functionally, not much different although there are some differences emerging slowly in terms of rating and charging. However, the real difference between a 4G OCS and a 5G OCS stems from a very low latency and a very volume traffic that 5G represents.

A 4G data service transmits data at the speed of 100 MBPS whereas 5G promises to transmit data at the speed of 1 GBPS. The average speeds at the subscriber level have been found to be 30 MBPS average for 4G and 200 MBPS average for 5G.

What’s more? 6G specification is set to increase these data speeds to 1 TBPS, which is insanely high and one cannot imagine what transformation these data speeds will bring to various industries. Even an average speed of 10 GBPS could bring about huge transformations.

However, one thing is clear. A 5G or a 6G OCS system needs to be upward scalable. The telecom companies need to start making investment into the new age technology and OCS system providers who provide seamless, new technology solutions.

The functional differences in 5G charging are stemming from the fact that mobile plans are becoming more and more flexible, with the advent of add-on data packages, and independent data services not linked to the original plan. For example, if user’s quota expires on the original plan but he or she is using an add-on data package, then the data service would continue to function without any disruption in the service as long as there is quota available in that package.

A certain e-sim offerings are being provided only with mobile data services. The subscribers do not require calling or text messaging services because they carry out their calls with mobile data by using VoIP technology like any internet-based calling app such as Skype or WhatsApp.

5G OCS

EarnBill – A BSS Solution and An Online Charging System for 5G Services

EarnBill stands out as a comprehensive BSS solution that provides a hardened OCS system for 5G services. It fully meets the above mentioned functional and technical requirements to meet the 5G challenge. EarnBill is making a difference and helping organisations succeed in their telco business endeavours.

Read more about successful EarnBill Case Studies here

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