Future-ready charging solution for a tier-1 telecom leader

Overview

As a leading tier-1 telecom operator serving tens of millions of subscribers, our client needed to replace their business-critical Intelligent Network (IN) and Online Charging System (OCS). In a highly competitive market with demanding subscribers, there is zero tolerance for risky migrations or service degradation.

As a trusted partner for turnkey, mission-critical telecom solutions, we worked closely with the client to design, deploy and evolve a fully reliable platform for IN and online charging of voice, SMS and MMS services – ensuring uninterrupted experiences for millions.

The Challenge

Replacing a critical charging system with zero disruption

Migrating from a legacy IN and OCS platform — limited in flexibility, scalability and performance — to a robust, future-ready solution required to address three key challenges:

Capturing complete low-level requirements
A full as-is assessment and detailed documentation was essential to ensure every legacy function, dependency and configuration was accurately mapped before migration.
Designing a zero-risk migration strategy
We needed precise processes, tools and validation mechanisms to minimize any risk during partial or full-service switchover.
Balancing performance with business logic flexibility
The new system had to deliver high efficiency and throughput without compromising ease of configuration, long-term maintainability or the ability to adapt quickly to new business needs.

Additionally, the client sought to leverage the transformation to establish automated processes that accelerate time-to-market and improve agility in a rapidly evolving telecom landscape.

The Objective

Modernize and automate the Online Charging System for future service evolution

The client needed a robust, on-premises online charging solution fully integrated with their existing network, BSS/OSS and provisioning ecosystem. The platform had to deliver exceptional availability, zero failures and complete transparency in subscriber charges to meet strict regulatory requirements. Additionally, it needed to handle current subscriber volumes and real-time transaction loads while providing headroom for future capacity growth and service expansion.

Another key requirement was ensuring minimal impact on surrounding systems. The solution had to align with existing integration points and interfaces to reduce disruptions and higher migration costs.

Future-ready charging solution for a tier-1 telecom leader

The Solution

A high-capacity, fully resilient and disaster-tolerant OCS platform

We collaborated closely with the client’s engineering teams to design and prepare the migration, offering end-to-end technical expertise, hands-on implementation support and proof-of-concept validations to ensure a safe, predictable transition.

We delivered a 3GPP 4G compliant OCS platform that integrates seamlessly with the client’s network and BSS systems. The solution supports prepaid and postpaid charging for voice and messaging across consumer, small business, enterprise and wholesale segments.

Key components of the solution included:

Charging function
Implemented our charging software solution tailored for postpaid and prepaid subscriptions supporting all type of product offerings.
Rating function
Integrated with the customer's tariff information system, it calculates call and message transaction costs in real time across different subscription types and pricing schemes.
Balance management
Manages spending against available allowances for customer subscriptions based on monetary, volume or time-based quotas.

By combining the flexibility of our charging solution with tailored professional services, we enabled the client to replicate all existing charging services using new technology, while also laying the foundation for launching new products and subscription models at scale. The result is a future-ready charging platform supporting millions of subscribers with reduced operational complexity and costs.

The Impact

A seamless transition to a future-ready, high-performance charging platform

Our enterprise-grade charging solution enabled a smooth, disruption-free replacement of the client’s legacy system, delivering higher capacity, improved automation and a scalable foundation for future service and network evolution.

With the deployment of our robust and flexible OCS platform, the client achieved significant business and operational benefits:

Faster time-to-market
Automated procedures for platform updates and configuration changes reduced operational cycles from days to hours, enabling quicker market response and improved customer satisfaction.
Higher capacity
The new platform supports over 50 million subscribers and more than 50,000 transactions per second—more than double the capacity of the legacy system.
Cost efficiency
Automated DevOps workflows lowered operational overhead and freed internal teams to focus on business-driven enhancements rather than routine maintenance.
Enhanced reliability
Near-zero downtime improved service quality, strengthened customer perception and minimized revenue loss from service unavailability or customer claims.

The result? The client now operates a modern, future-ready Online Charging System capable of evolving with emerging technologies — whether cloud transformation, new service models or AI-driven innovations.

Looking Ahead

Evolving to cloud native solution

Our engagement with the client continues to evolve, working with them in the evolution of initial architecture to a private cloud native solution that can simplify and reduce even more the processes of maintaining and evolving the charging system with new products and services defined by business teams to keep leading the telco industry for higher value and increased market share.

As a trusted strategic partner, we at HCLTech remain committed to driving continuous innovation and operational excellence, enabling our client to deliver exceptional subscriber experiences and maintain telecom market leadership in a rapidly connected world.