Nokia announced that it has started deploying its converged charging (NCC) software for Vodafone in multiple European countries. This leverages a cloud-based agile delivery model that enables rating and charging for 5G services and enhances product and services delivery to customers.
NCC operates as a containerised network function in a 5G standalone environment and allows Vodafone to tap new revenue streams from 5G services, including network slicing and flexible product offerings. Deployment spans several Vodafone markets in Europe, including the UK and Italy, and drives charging standardised across Vodafone networks and provides real-time rating and charging capabilities; it represents a full migration from legacy charging to 5G-ready methods.
NCC allows communication service providers to create and launch new services to market, with intuitive, drag and drop functionality. It is highly configurable and gives Vodafone the capacity to utilise the solution to fit consumer, enterprise, and new business models.
Alberto Ripepi, chief network officer of Vodafone, says, “5G enables many new services and with this new system, new ways to charge for them. By leveraging the scale of our pan-European and African networks, we can help customers manage factory equipment, open developer marketplaces using our APIs (application programming interface), and enable enterprises to offer bespoke products to their own customers.”
Hamdy Farid, senior vice president, business applications at Nokia, says, “We are pleased to be furthering our relationship with Vodafone through the roll-out of Nokia’s converged charging solution. As advanced 5G services start to become more widespread, our converged charging solution is very well-placed to help communication service providers and enterprises drive innovative 5G use cases and business models, and deliver significant operating efficiency improvements.”
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