Technology Showcase: Shared Usage Plans

Transcription

1 Contents Executive Summary... 1 Shared Quota Plans Overview... 2 Use Cases and Deployment Options... 4 B/OSS Group Plan Source... 6 Provisioning... 7 Billing... 8 Customer Service... 8 Reporting... 8 AAA RADIUS Group Plan Source... 8 Provisioning... 9 Billing Customer Service Reporting Conclusion Executive Summary With ever-growing subscriber data traffic and the flattening Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), operators are challenged to offer competitive broadband Quality of Experience (QoE) while protecting their profit margins. Mobile communications service providers are looking to capitalize on the exploding number of tablets, net books and smart phones by offering the service of a single data quota to be shared across multiple subscriber devices. With Sandvine s Usage Management product, communications service providers are able to quickly capture new revenues and increase market share by offering shared quota plans and service bolt-ons to the market. The superiority of Sandvine s real-time charging accuracy is a pivotal factor to the success of offering attractive and profitable shared plans for families. The Quota Manager is a feature-set of the Usage Management product that includes the capability for service providers to track subscriber data usage towards a shared quota. The data metered towards the shared quota can include data originating from subscriber devices with multiple IP addresses or APNs, multiple subscriber devices (IMEIs) or data originating from multiple mobile device SIMs (IMSIs) per subscriber mobile MSISDN/IMEI for M2M applications. The shared quota can be used amongst family members, company departments or user groups (identified by a parent/master account key). Quota Manager can also support multiple technology data homes and enforcement for shared plans. This enables shared usage across a spectrum of access technologies available from quadruple-play service providers. This paper describes four shared quota plan use cases that can be deployed with Sandvine s Quota Manager.

2 Shared Quota Plans Overview Tier 1 communications service providers such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T introduced shared data plans for up to 10 devices in mid , adding yet another competitive element to the mobile marketplace. With flat or declining voice and messaging revenues, mobile service providers have increasingly looked at further monetizing their rapidly increasing data usage by migrating from unlimited usage billing to usage-based billing. Mobile communications service providers are looking to capitalize on the exploding number of tablets, net books and smart phones by offering the service of a single data quota to be shared across multiple subscribers and/or subscriber devices. The ability to share usage across multiple devices and subscribers provides an incentive to increase the number of devices that a service provider will serve. The increase in devices translates into an increase in subscribers or higher quota plans being required for the devices. This allows subscribers to enjoy wireless data connectivity for their devices for a relatively low per-device cost, while operators enjoy higher return per GB due to the shared quotas. Having shared usage also decreases subscriber churn as multiple members need to be involved in a churn decision. Data can be metered towards shared quota from subscriber devices with multiple IP addresses or APNs, multiple subscriber devices (IMEIs), or multiple mobile device SIMs (IMSIs) per subscriber mobile MSISDN/IMEI for M2M applications. The shared quota can be used amongst family members, company departments or user groups (identified by a parent/master account key). Table 1 shows an example of the different possible subscriber identifications that can be used in a shared quota group subscriber identification structure. Subscribers can be identified by an IP address, IP address & APN, 3GPP IMSI, 3GPP IMEI, 3GPP2 ESN/MEID or 3GPP2 MIN. Table 1: Family Plan Subscriber Member Identification Parent/Master Parent/Master Member Device Sub Member 1 Device Sub Member 2 Device Parent/Master Member IP Address Sub Member 1 IP Address & APN Sub Member 2 IMSI... Sub Member 8 Device Sub Member 8 MIN Quota Manager supports multiple technology implementations (DSL, Cable and Mobile), which require multiple data homes. Support for shared plans quota enforcement can also be provided. These extensions enable shared usage across a spectrum of access technologies available from multiple-play service providers. This paper explains how one or more shared quotas can be offered to subscribers, allowing service providers to increase revenue and remain competitive in the market. Sandvine Professional Services are also available to customize the Usage Management product to suite the operator s deployment environment and special use cases. Each subscriber/device in a shared quota plan can not only have common shared usage, but can also have independent policy, thresholds, top-ups and billing Usage Data Records (UDRs). The per-subscriber/device policy includes separate quotas for different %2FpRza+%28Crave%29 2 Page 2

3 categories/rating groups of usage as well as actions on reaching thresholds. An example would be the primary member of the shared plan group being redirected on quota exhaustion to a subscriber portal for top-ups, while other members could be shaped or blocked. Figure 1 below shows the case of a shared family data plan with the primary member being the account owner, and a secondary and third member. The primary member is allowed access to any and all protocols and applications (unrestricted access) up to the shared plan quota CAP (limit). The secondary member has a lower quota (80% of the total) and is only allowed access to social networking, and video. Finally, the third member is only allowed access to social networking and , and has a much lower quota limit (30% of the total). Upon reaching their 30% quota limit, the third member is totally blocked from further data access. If the secondary member reaches their 80% quota limit, their data access is shaped to a low bit rate. Finally if the total plan quota is reached, the primary member, as the account owner, is redirected to a subscriber portal to allow for top-up. If top-up is not accepted, then the primary member s data access is also shaped. Figure 1: Shared Plan Quota Manager Shared Quota Policy, CAP and Quota Exhaustion Actions Page 3

4 Figure 2 shows a generic network reference diagram for shared plans, with mobile and cable network technology used as the example. The Sandvine Policy Traffic Switch (PTS) measures usage for the group and individuals and periodically sends usage to the Sandvine Service Delivery Engine (SDE) for accumulation by Quota Manager. Quota Manager provides the quota threshold indications, quota exhaustion events to the PTS for shaping/redirection policy actions and Usage Data Records (UDRs). Figure 2 illustrated the case where Jeff is a cable subscriber with 5GB quota, Jack is a mobile subscriber with 1 GB quota and Ann is also a mobile subscriber with 5 GB quota. Jeff, Jack and Ann all belong to a shared quota of 5 GB. In the illustration below, Jeff has used 50 MBs, Jack 2 MBs and Ann 5 MBS for a total of MBs usage towards the shared 5 GB quota. Figure 2: Shared Plan Quota Manager Network Reference Diagram Note that in network deployments with a mix of fixed cable or DSL and mobile networks, the Sandvine solution can give a lower weight to fixed network bytes than mobile network bytes to account for the lower cost of fixed networks as compared to mobile networks. Use Cases and Deployment Options The following four use cases are supported by Quota Manager: 1. Family/group membership with one access technology and data home Page 4

5 a. b. c. d. e. f. Ability to support either xdsl, cable OR mobile technologies Support for multiple shared group family members or devices Can have per device policy, thresholds and notifications Can generate daily per device billing UDRs to mediation and billing systems Multiple APN Connectivity Integrates with provisioning systems over SOAP 2. Family/group membership with multiple access technologies and data homes (one datahome per technology) a. b. c. d. e. Ability to support a mix of xdsl, cable AND mobile technologies Can provide different quota cost weights against fixed and mobile usage Example, can use six cable bytes, three DSL bytes or one mobile byte for each quota point. Support for multiple shared group/family members or devices Supports simple enforcement rules (multiple datahomes restrict enforcement and notification options) 3. Cloud computing/virtual machine 1) There are two use cases for cloud computing/virtual machine usage where the difference between the two use cases is a different account owner for the shared quota: a) The first of the two use cases is when users are not directly charged for access to a cloud service because the provider pays for the network data access as part of the service that the users are charged for (i.e., the cloud service access cost is bundled in the cloud service cost). The service provider shared quota is thus quota that is charging third-party content providers for data access. An account is owned by third-party providers (not actual access subscribers) Page 5

6 and quota is allocated against third-party providers for use by access subscribers. This use case applies to user group account access to Cloud services such as Salesforce or Google where the cloud service includes data access. b) The second of the two use cases is when one or more operator-owned virtual machines are offered to customers. In this case, the account is owned by the access subscribers and quota is allocated against them directly. This use case applies to user group Cloud account access services such as backup and restore where the cloud service does not include data access. i) One shared quota for all virtual machines ii) Bucket per virtual machine/host iii) Supports multiple virtual machines/hosts iv) Query the status of each virtual machine and for all of them through the SDE SOAP interface for self-care portals v) Integrate with CRM via SDE SOAP interface vi) Generate UDRs for all virtual machines and for each one vii) Administratively assign and remove IP addresses for virtual machines via the SPB SOAP Interface (Map and Unmap calls). 4. Single subscriber multiple SIM/devices (Multi-SIM) a. Single MSISDN b. Supports multiple SIMs/IMSI/devices B/OSS Group Plan Source The first common configuration option for shared quota plans defines the hierarchy of a group (or family), with sub-members who can be family individuals or other user groups. This hierarchy, which is defined in the service provider s B/OSS or provisioning system, is sent to Quota Manager to define the group as well as the members/devices that are sharing the quota. The SDE also requires the plan quota and other plan attributes from the B/OSS via the SDE SOAP API. The shared quota can make use of the usual Sandvine Quota Manager capabilities such as threshold notifications and redirection to subscriber portals. Once provisioned, the usage is counted towards both individual users and shared quota buckets as shown in Figure 3 below. Sandvine s PTS intersects the device data plane to track usage. The PTS regularly sends usage data reports for the devices to the Quota Manager, which accumulates the usage against both the group/family and each individual member. Upon reaching configured usage thresholds (e.g., 60% or 80 %), notifications can optionally be sent to all members of the group or alternatively to the primary subscriber/device on the account. At 100% usage, the primary member (the person responsible for the account) can be redirected to a subscriber portal to top-up (for pre-paid plans). Reporting supports usage queries by both group/family and group member/individual. Page 6

7 Figure 3: Shared Plan Quota Manager B/OSS or Provisioning System Hierarchy Information Source In postpaid and enterprise group connectivity cases where no enforcement is needed upon breaching the subscribers limit, UDRs are generated to reflect the usage for each individual member as well as the group and are consumed by the mediation and billing systems to generate the final account invoice. Provisioning The definition of group and group members is stored in the service provider s B/OSS or provisioning system.the process of configuring a shared quota plan via the SOAP API involves two steps: 1. Creating a group account that holds the shared usage among all devices/users 2. Creating individual subscribers/device accounts and associating them to the group account through simple attributes indicating the name of the group account. Existing subscribers who wish to join a shared plan are accommodated through a simple attribute update. On completing these configuration steps, Quota Manager will create group shared plans. The group will be treated as an individual subscriber and overall group usage will be allocated to this group. Each subscriber in the group will also be allocated usage for reporting purposes. Quota Manager uses a convenient SOAP API for configuring rating groups and quota limits, billing cycles, cap limits and quota exhaustion. Because Sandvine uses a freeform policy language called SandScript, Quota Manager supports Turnkey Provisioning for defining peripheral subscriber policy options in the B/OSS during provisioning. Extra subscriber service policy characteristics, such as subscriber notifications options, parental control, or business services, can be configured in the B/OSS using SOAP. This enables operators to configure advanced charging or auditing logic, while eliminating the need for compiled custom plug-ins that can be difficult to maintain and integrate. Page 7

8 Billing This solution supports both post-paid (generation of Usage Data Records (UDRs) to a billing system) and pre-paid billing. Post-paid billing UDRs will be available as CSV files with fields recording usage session attributes such as IMSI/MSISDN, usage by rating group/category or location. UDRs for up to four quotas 5 per group and group members are supported. The UDR fields that can be generated are customizable. UDR field customization implementation requires a Sandvine Professional Services engagement. Irrespective of the solution being for shared quota or unshared quota plans, the generated post-paid billing UDRs can be out of the box with a Quick Start Service (default configuration with records out of the SDE) or require Professional Services (i.e., the level of services is not so much dependent on the solution being shared quota plans but more on what fields are required in the generated UDRs sent to the billing system). For both post-paid and pre-paid billing, Quota Manager supports the standard outof-quota actions such as shape, redirect to a captive Portal or provide advice-of-charge notification. Pre-paid billing information is obtained from the B/OSS via the SOAP API, and pre-paid top ups also come through the B/OSS. The standard Quota Manager out of quota actions such as shape or prioritize traffic, redirect to a captive Portal or provide advice of charge notification are also available with pre paid billing. Note that prepaid billing also provides a standard set of UDR fields that can be used for audit or customer-care purposes. Customer Service Depending on the implementation desired by the service provider, customer service or subscribers will be able to query usage of each group member or usage for the entire group. Sandvine Professional Services can integrate the solution to a subscriber portal or CRM portal for providing of this usage information. Using the Sandscript policy language, integration efficiencies can be achieved. CRM endto-end auditing is also possible if the external CRM system has a transaction identifier which can be passed as a provisioning attribute. Quota Manager can log these external transaction identifiers for revenue assurance and fraud prevention purposes. Reporting Reporting by Sandvine standards reporting platform, Network Demographics, and via the API query will be provided per subscriber and per subscriber device usage as well as overall group usage. A myriad of Quota Manager standard reports include high-runner protocol usage for zero-rated data and detailed tracking of revenue-retention and quota management accuracy. AAA RADIUS Group Plan Source The second configuration option for shared quota plans uses a custom RADIUS AVP that links subscribers to their corresponding group accounts. This deployment mode is useful in cases where there are limitations on the communications service provider s provisioning process and operators have significant investment in their AAA infrastructure. In this case, the provisioning system creates subscriber accounts and the corresponding group accounts, but does not associate individual subscribers with group accounts. This minimizes the update 5 Smaller deployments can have more than 4 quotas per group. The limit on number of quotas per group is performance related. Larger deployments can also utilize the Record Generator feature for integration with the mediation systems. Page 8

9 operations that the CRM logic needs to perform with quota manager and keeps this logic with the AAA infrastructure. Thus, the hierarchy of group accounts and their subscriber associations, defined in the service provider s B/OSS or provisioning system for the shared plans, must be provisioned within the service provider s AAA infrastructure. The AAA system then passes the member-to-group association to the Sandvine Quota Manager in the RADIUS accounting start message. Once it receives the accounting start message, the PTS makes this information available within the subscriber session for use by the Quota Manager. The Quota Manager is then able to update both the individual and the shared quota bucket using the information passed from the AAA. It should be noted however that the B/OSS SOAP API configuration option that uses SOAP provisioning provides a richer data transfer to the Sandvine SDE/Quota Manager and thus allows for additional capabilities such as notification with enforcement. Figure 4 shows the deployment, with the PTS again intersecting the device data plane to track usage. Once the plan definition of group and group members is obtained from the AAA (via the B/OSS), the behavior of the system is similar to that of the full SOAP provisioning option with the noted exceptions. Figure 4: Shared Plan Quota Manager AAA Hierarchy Information Source Provisioning The association of group accounts and group members is still stored in the B/OSS. The Sandvine solution however will obtain this information partly from the B/OSS for the group plan attributes (via a SOAP API), while the association of the group subscribers/devices to the group accounts in each group is obtained via the AAA. Page 9

10 Quota Manager will enable group shared plans based on this AAA and B/OSS information. A VendorSpecific AAA RADIUS AVP is used to convey the group member configuration to the Sandvine SDE. The SOAP API is used to configure rating groups and quota limits, billing cycles, cap limits and policy on quota exhaustion as the basis of the shared-plans configuration. Billing Billing works in exactly the same way as with the B/OSS SOAP API configuration option. The ability to distinguish between subscriber usage is again restricted due to the configuration limit noted above. Customer Service Similarly, customer service or subscriber access to usage works just like with the B/OSS SOAP API configuration, with again the subscriber visibility restriction mentioned above. Reporting Reporting with Network Demographics and via the API query will provide per-subscriber device usage as well as overall group usage (not per subscriber). Conclusion To meet today s challenges and competitive threats, Sandvine s Quota Manager allows CSPs to meet the emerging customer need of having shared data usage across multiple subscribers and devices. The Sandvine shared plan solution is available to service providers as part of the Usage Management product with two implementation options. The B/OSS SOAP API implementation option allows for group and individual group member usage to be tracked against quota, queried for usage for group and individual group member usage, and have the ability to support pre- and post-paid billing options, at the added cost of IT integration. The AAA implementation option only requires the definition of a custom AAA AVP, however visibility into individual subscribers is not available. Please contact your account representative for further details on this revenue-generating opportunity. Page 10

11 Headquarters Sandvine Incorporated ULC Waterloo, Ontario Canada Phone: European Offices Sandvine Limited, UK Swindon, UK Phone: sales@sandvine.co.uk Copyright 2013 Sandvine Incorporated ULC. Sandvine and the Sandvine logo are registered trademarks of Sandvine Incorporated ULC. All rights reserved