Unleashing The Power Of Convergent Billing In The 5g Era

By Author: Kevin
Total Articles: 93
Comment this article

In the past, communication service providers (CSPs) used distinct billing systems for each service, resulting in fragmented billing procedures and separate invoices for each service. Customers would, for example, get different invoices for voice, mobile data, fixed-line, internet, and so on. It is time to put aside divergent billing and embrace convergent billing in telecom in the 5G era.

The Need for a Convergent Billing Solution

A convergent billing solution is a billing method that integrates several services into a single consolidated charge, such as phone calls, data, video, and other value-added services. It is intended to make the invoicing process easier for clients and service providers by combining costs from many services into a single invoice. A convergent billing software allows operators to integrate and control all charges and services in a single system. Customers may receive a single statement for all of their services, reducing the trouble of organizing several invoices and making separate payments for individual services.

Convergent Billing: Key Capabilities

In the realm of 4G ...
... networks, various convergent billing architectures were implemented for online and offline modes. Users were mandated to select either prepaid or postpaid modes. With the advent of 5G networks, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) introduced unified convergent billing in telecom. This architecture encompasses both online and offline billing modes within the core network. The newly established telecom convergent billing platform possesses the capability to dynamically choose between online and offline billing modes based on the specific requirements of the services, thus offering improved flexibility.

Enhanced Enterprise Services

The enhanced enterprise services empower CSPs with a comprehensive and flexible solution to streamline their billing processes, enhance customer experience, and maximize revenue generation from their diverse portfolio of services.

The convergent billing software offers a range of enterprise service capabilities that support 5G applications such as autonomous driving and industrial automation. Once users subscribe to a service, they can utilize the User Plane Function (UPF) at the network edge, allowing them to access applications and content deployed on the Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) server. This enables them to benefit from low-latency services.

A convergent billing solution also facilitates the integration of Over-the-Top (OTT) providers by offering open APIs that allow them to onboard new users. For instance, a gaming vendor can deploy cloud gaming services on the edge, and OTTs can utilize CBS to sign up new users for these services.

Additionally, a telecom convergent billing platform enables the utilization of various billing criteria, such as CPUs and memory, from cloud computing to charge OTTs based on their usage of the edge computing server.

Monetization Model

5G monetization capabilities of convergent billing software empower service providers to effectively monetize their offerings, adapt to evolving market demands, and maximize revenue generation in the 5G era.

A convergent billing solution enables service providers to implement flexible and dynamic pricing models to cater to diverse customer needs.

CBS facilitates the creation and management of bundled service packages, enabling upselling opportunities and attracting customers with attractive and tailored offerings.

5G networks demand real-time charging and rating capabilities due to the increased speed and volume of transactions. A telecom convergent billing platform enables instantaneous charging and rating for services, ensuring accurate and immediate billing for customers.

Collaboration between service providers, OTT providers, content creators, and other stakeholders is facilitated by 5G networks. CBS helps service providers manage revenue distribution and settlement processes with their partners by facilitating partner settlement and revenue-sharing contracts.