Telecom Billing
Australian MVNO: 100%+ Revenue Growth
Multi-brand MVNO management across 4 brands on one platform
Read Case Study →ISP / Prepaid OCS
OCS Implementation for a Prepaid Mobile Data Service Provider
How a government-run Middle East ISP replaced a latency-plagued cloud billing system with EarnBill's on-premise OCS. Achieving millisecond response times, smooth bank integrations, and the capacity to double or triple their subscriber base.
3x
Capacity Headroom
MS
Response Time
Millions
Daily Balance Checks
0
Revenue Leakage
Company
Government-run ISP & Telecom Infrastructure Provider
Industry
ISP (Internet Services Provider) & Telecommunication Services
Region
Middle East
About the Client
The client is a government-run Internet & Telecommunications Service provider in the Middle East. The company is fast expanding its internet and telecommunications services across the country. It is providing SIM-based 4G mobile data services and also providing the infrastructure to other telecom players for international calling.
Being a government-run ISP, the company operates at scale. Serving a national subscriber base while also supporting the regional telecom ecosystem. The nature of prepaid mobile data billing means every millisecond of response time and every byte of data accuracy directly affects both customer experience and revenue integrity.
The Challenges
Scaling & Performance Issue
The client was using a cloud-based prepaid billing solution which was not suited to their environment. The cloud-based system had more latency from their end while responding to balance validation requests. When you are processing millions of balance checks in a prepaid system, the response time from the OCS system becomes quite a critical factor.
The poor performance of the existing billing platform was mainly due to the fact that the system was not designed for scaling to high volumes. The latency due to internet-based access to the cloud system caused additional latency. This meant balance validation requests were failing or timing out, affecting end customers who would frequently face disruptions in their service.
Clear Objectives for the New System
The client started looking for a provider who could scale to service their business with a customisable Billing + OCS system.
"We were looking for a BRM system that meets three important criteria. 1) it should be an on-premise system; 2) it should scale to increasing business volumes; and 3) it should be customisable to meet our needs."
, Client's Billing Operations Manager
Easy to Use, Localisation in Arabic
Other challenges involved providing simple recharge options for front-desk staff. It was important to provide a web portal to do their jobs with Arabic as the language. There were expectations from the finance department to provide accurate data in custom report formats, designed in Arabic. Also, when the new billing system went live, they would need to migrate data from the existing billing system.
Data Migration
The data migration involved customer information, soft copies of national IDs or passports, and other documentation captured during the on-boarding process. It was going to be important to migrate the wallet balances and the available quota for customers with active balances.
All Requirements at a Glance
- Prepaid services with SIM-based mobile data usage
- Existing Triple A (AAA) + Billing and Accounting system was slow to respond to balance check requests from the UGW
- An on-premise, powerful and scalable OCS (Online Charging System) was required
- Process millions of online real-time mediation requests for balance checks from the OCS platform
- Easy to use front-office recharge functionality with plan upgrade and downgrade options
- Financial reports to be drawn based on recharge transactions
- Integration with all major banks to support recharge options from net banking or mobile banking interfaces
- An administrative web portal to review the billing, rating and charging, in Arabic
- Multiple front-desk sales roles with agent and supervisor options
- Supervisor role has additional functional access compared to a sales agent; admin role has the highest access permissions
The Solution
After conducting due diligence with multiple providers, the client chose EarnBill On-Premise. EarnBill met all their requirements and more. The client's experience through the sales process was professional and responsive. Implementation was put on the fast track with clearly defined goals for each phase and each sprint.
Project Kickoff
The client did due diligence with multiple providers and found EarnBill to be the system that would meet all their requirements. The work for finalising agreements and SOWs was completed quickly and professionally. Implementation was put on the fast track with clearly defined goals for each phase and each sprint.
Implementation Phase
During the implementation phase, the required financial reports and payment receipt formats were designed and developed in Arabic. The front-desk sales user role was made available in Arabic through the EarnBill web portal. This made it convenient for sales agents and their supervisors to perform their daily jobs. Managing new sales and recharging for existing clients. The data and balances for existing clients were migrated to EarnBill while going live.
"There was a fineness in the work and professionalism in meeting timelines with the requisite quality. Any issues reported were resolved in quick time by the implementation team and tests performed were of the highest quality."
, Client Billing Ops Manager
OCS Implementation
The Online Charging System (OCS) was the centrepiece of this deployment. The diagram below shows the complete architecture of the EarnBill Billing + OCS implementation.
EarnBill Billing + OCS, Full System Architecture
As shown in the diagram, the UGW (Universal Gateway) is a network component that sends data usage messages over the Radius protocol to the EarnBill OCS system. The EarnBill OCS system can receive messages in both the Radius and Diameter protocols. The Radius / Diameter listeners accept the data usage messages and transfer them to the Usage Management Services. The Usage Management Service validates the quota balance for the specific mobile service for which the data usage message has been received.
If the quota balance is sufficient, it debits the current transaction's balance and allows next usage. The OCS system responds to the UGW in positive and allows next usage from that particular mobile number. If the quota balance is not sufficient, the OCS sends a response code stopping the next usage from that mobile number.
The diagram also depicts how the Radius events are stored in the background in an events database. It also shows other modules. The customer portal, a bank recharge service, front-desk agents helping with new sales and recharges, and a module for financial reports that draws data from the billing core.
OCS Performance
The performance of the EarnBill OCS system was the standout feature. It met the client's performance requirement from the outset as the system went live. To their pleasant surprise, the system was managing peak loads with ease, responding to each accounting request in a few milliseconds.
"The performance of the OCS system meant that we could double or even triple our existing customer base with the existing system and hardware and there would be no issues!"
, Client's Billing Ops Manager
Customised Reports & Easy-to-Use Recharge Options
The finance department required reports that tracked revenue with various criteria and queries. These were fine-tuned after going live and worked to the satisfaction of the finance department. The recharge options for front-desk sales agents and those from the bank apps were working very well.
It was easy to roll out the integration for payments to multiple banks. This meant increased convenience for customers to make their recharge payments and improved revenue collection for the client.
Key Platform Capabilities Used
Radius / Diameter Protocol Support
Real-Time Balance Validation
Usage Management Services
Bank Recharge Integration (3 Banks)
Arabic-Language Web Portal
Role-Based Access (Agent / Supervisor / Admin)
Plan Upgrade / Downgrade
Financial Reports in Arabic
Load-Balanced OCS Cluster
Customer Portal & Data Migration
The Results
The EarnBill implementation resolved the significant performance issues faced by the earlier billing system. The customised solutions were provided in quick time, meaning business processes were fine-tuned for billing operations. EarnBill restored the confidence of the business in offering various services to customers. The company was now ready and equipped with a system that could support a variety of services in an efficient manner and is in the process of rolling out new offerings. On top of this, the reduced capex and opex meant that more funds were available for investing into business development.
Robust, Scalable OCS
A stable and scalable Online Charging System implemented that will help the business for years to come. Day-to-day operations run smoothly and the number of customer issues and complaints has been significantly reduced.
Smooth Partner Integrations
Smooth integrations with banks meant that there was increased confidence with partners. Customers can now recharge directly from their preferred banking app. Driving convenience and higher recharge frequency.
Zero Revenue Leakage
Measuring and rating all data usage accurately meant that there was no leakage in the revenue stream. Users were satisfied because of fair and accurate billing based on actual consumption.
Reduced Capex & Opex
Reduced capital and operational expenditure with benefits increasing over time for the client. Freeing up funds that could be reinvested into expanding services and new offerings.
Key Outcomes at a Glance
3x
Capacity Headroom
<10ms
OCS Response
3
Banks Integrated
0
Revenue Leakage
Key Learnings
1
Cloud Is Not Always the Right Answer
For workloads that process millions of real-time balance checks per day, network latency between the UGW and a cloud-based OCS is a fundamental bottleneck. An on-premise deployment eliminated this entirely. Bringing response times down to milliseconds from what was causing customer-facing outages.
2
Localisation Is Not Optional
For government-run services in the Middle East, providing Arabic-language interfaces for both front-desk staff and finance teams was essential to adoption. Billing systems that ignore localisation create operational friction that compounds over time.
3
Accurate Rating Protects Both Revenue and Trust
In a prepaid model, the billing system is visible to customers on every transaction. Accurate data usage metering and billing not only prevents revenue leakage. It builds customer trust, reduces support load, and supports the company's credibility as a government-run service.
Running a Prepaid or ISP Operation?
See how EarnBill's OCS handles real-time balance checks, Radius/Diameter protocols, and bank integrations at scale.
