Convergent charging is an essential requirement of modern-day MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators). It is the holy-grail of billing as it can empower your monetization and billing strategy. The inherent strength of a convergent charging platform lies in its real-time charging functionality, which ensures all the services delivered by an operator are charged accurately.
The Need for Intuitiveness
An effective billing and charging platform needs to be intuitive as MVNOs, in most cases, are from non-tech backgrounds. But that does not mean you can miss out on important features. As MVNOs procure their Radio Access Network (RAN) resources from a Mobile Network Operator (MNO), they need to show creativity in their plan offerings and service delivery. They are reliant on MVNA and MVNE partnerships for business and technical resources. But when it comes to billing, charging, BSS and OSS functionality; they have to show peculiar individual flair. And, this can only be made possible via an intuitive platform that they know how to use.
Essential MVNO Skills for Business Growth
An MVNO needs to be proficient when it comes to revenue monetization. Below are some functions, it needs to be good at in order to survive in an extremely competitive telecom industry:
- De-provisioning and provisioning of telco services
- Multi-tenant environment with multiple login capability
- Ability to offer fast top ups and a multitude of telecom services to the subscribers
- Scalability to meet ever-rising requirements
- Multiple levels of redundancy to prevent data loss due to site failure
- Ability to evolve as per latest technologies like 5G and IoT
- Inherent support for data throttling
- Flawless credit limit implementation to prevent subscribers from exceeding allotted limits
An Online Charging System (OCS) with event- and session-based charging capability allows MVNOs to serve customers in a good way.
Support for a Wide Range of Telecom Services with Relevant Features
An MVNO can don the hat of different providers e.g. it can serve as a prepaid/postpaid operator, ISP and IoT vendor. Therefore, the telecom support platform that it uses should have the following features:
- Integration of payment gateways for receiving payments from customers
- Tariff plan creation for prepaid and postpaid services
- Service activation and deactivation
- Taxation and discounting
- Call barring and blacklisting
Apart from these features, there are a number of other functions required by a telecom operator. A comprehensive telecom billing platform like Online Charging System can simplify day-to-day work operations and improve the overall revenue.
Summary
In the competitive telecom industry, it could be hard to survive for an MVNO if not for an intuitive and feature-rich charging system. By monetizing every service accurately and generating reliable invoices, one can grow trust amongst customers. It is important to have a scalable convergent charging system to meet the current and emerging requirements.