SMSC White

Paper
Prepaid
Billing System
For SMS
Confidential

CMG

1999 CMG Telecommunications & Utilities B.V.

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Version History

Version

Date

Details of Changes

Author(s)

0.1

10-04-2000

Initial version

Sander Brouwer

1.0

3-5-2000

After review by sales dept.

Sander Brouwer

1.1

7-6-2000

Incorporated autoreload feature

Sander Brouwer

Approval Record

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by CMG. CMG
assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document.
The information given in this document is strictly confidential.

Version
1.0

Date

Approved by

Signature

Steven van Zanen

SMS prepaid billing system SMSC White Paper Version 0.1

Introduction

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SMS prepaid billing system

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Table of contents

Introduction.........................................................................................................3

Positioning of CMG's prepaid SMS solution...................................................4

2.1

Existing prepaid SMS solutions.......................................................................................... 4

2.1.1 Processing CDR's / HLR blocking......................................................................................4

2.1.2 Prepaid credit checking at SCP by MSC............................................................................4
2.2

Problems when interfacing directly to existing prepaid billing systems................................4

2.3

CMG's solution: Prepaid Billing System for SMS................................................................6

2.4

SMS Prepaid Billing System - Features..............................................................................6

2.4.1 Real time charging and blocking......................................................................................... 6

2.4.2 One prepaid account or separate prepaid accounts...........................................................6
2.4.3 Recipient charging.............................................................................................................. 6
2.4.4 Allow blocked prepaid subscribers to send free SMS to certain Large Accounts................7
2.4.5 Mixed post-paid and pre-paid on one system.....................................................................7
2.4.6 Support for distributed SMSC's.......................................................................................... 7
2.4.7 Hybrid charging support..................................................................................................... 7
2.4.8 Possible refund in case of non delivered message.............................................................7
2.4.9 Differentiated charging........................................................................................................ 7
2.4.10Other advantages............................................................................................................... 8

Integration in network........................................................................................9
3.1

Administrating prepaid SMS users......................................................................................9

3.2

Integration to PBS using RASP.......................................................................................... 9

3.3

Integration with IVR system..............................................................................................11

Technical information.......................................................................................12
4.1

Scalability......................................................................................................................... 12

4.2

Redundancy..................................................................................................................... 12

4.3

Capacity........................................................................................................................... 12

SMS prepaid billing system

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Introduction

This paper gives a description of CMG's solution for charging prepaid SMS.
Operators and suppliers of Prepaid systems have had much difficulty with the
implementation of the SMS in their Prepaid solutions. Operators require to charge
Prepaid SMS as real time as possible to prevent fraud.
SMS for Prepaid has boosted at those operators who were able to offer SMS in
Prepaid to their users. Forecasts for Prepaid show an enormous increase in the
next few years. It is expected that Prepaid users will represent a substantial part of
the operator subscriber base and of its revenue.
It has already been proven that Prepaid users use SMS more than Post-paid users.
Therefore the prepaid charging solution shall be capable of charging high volumes
of Short Messages on a real time basis. Furthermore CMG's prepaid charging
solution shall be capable of keeping pace with the continuously growing
performance of CMG's SMSC.

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Positioning of CMG's prepaid SMS solution

2.1 Existing prepaid SMS solutions

2.1.1 Processing CDR's / HLR blocking
In Post-paid situations, SMSs are normally charged overnight. In the case of
Prepaid, this is also possible (usually in combination with HLR blocking) but it does
not fulfil operator requirements. The problem is that charging overnight leads to a
fraud window. Furthermore, Prepaid users can make an account enquiry and hear
the wrong amount.
2.1.2 Prepaid credit checking at SCP by MSC
Another solution for prepaid SMS that was implemented by some operators is
based on an interface between the MSC and the SCP. For every SMS originated by
a prepaid mobile, a check is done at the SCP by the MSC. If the credit of the
subscriber is sufficient, the message is forwarded to the SMSC. A number of
problems exist with this solution:
The first problem is that roaming is not supported (foreign MSC's do not check the
SCP for subscriber credit). This means that prepaid messages sent outside the
own network cannot be charged.
The second problem is that mobile originated SMS can be charged only at a flat
rate, since vital information such as the recipient address is not known at the MSC,
i.e. differentiated charging is not possible. Charging mobile terminated messages
(in case of messages sent by Large Accounts) is not possible.
The third problem is that only mobile originated SMS are charged at submission,
and no refund is possible in case the message cannot be delivered.

2.2 Problems when interfacing directly to existing prepaid billing systems

To resolve the problems illustrated in the previous section, a real prepaid SMS
charging should be based on the SMSC. This section describes the issues that
would arise when an SMSC would be connected directly to an existing Prepaid
Billing System.

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The majority of prepaid billing systems in use with operators are IN based. The IN
architecture provides in a Service Control Point (SCP), a (combined or separate)
Service Data Point (SDP) and a provisioning interface.
The SDP contains all the prepaid subscriber accounts and has two interfaces:

The SCP. The SCP handles normally call set-ups and call breakdowns initiated
by the MSC and is typically capable of handling ca 120 transactions per
second.

The provisioning interface. This interface is used for recharging the prepaid
account of the subscriber usually via an Interactive Voice Response system
(IVR) and is typically capable of handling ca 1 transaction per second.

For real time charging, SMS's need to be charged at the same time that the short
message is submitted. With the current volume and growth of SMS usage (500
submissions/sec), the available interfaces are a problem:

Provisioning interfaces are not built for high speed debiting of a prepaid
account. Most provisioning interfaces are capable of handing only one
transaction per second. With the current SMS traffic and the current
percentage of prepaid subscribers, this will lead to fraud windows of multiple
days.

SCP interfaces. If the SCP would be debited for every SMS transaction, the SCP
capacity would have to be significantly increased to enable charging of prepaid
SMS with the current SMS traffic. As SMS traffic would grow, also the SCP
capacity would have to grow accordingly. If the operator would be too late with
increasing the SCP capacity, the available SCP capacity would be monopolised by
SMS charging, leaving no capacity for voice call charging. Since enlarging SCP
capacity is a very costly affair to operators, this is not a very tempting scenario.

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2.3 CMG's solution: Prepaid Billing System for SMS

As described above, charging SMS relying on existing network components is not
an option. SMS is a business in itself, therefore separate provisions need to be
taken to charge prepaid SMS.
CMG's SMS Prepaid Billing System is closely linked to CMG's SMSC. Therefore
blocking a prepaid user from using SMS when he is out of credit is done on the
SMSC itself. More features can be found in the following sections.

2.4 SMS Prepaid Billing System - Features

2.4.1 Real time charging and blocking
For every prepaid short message accepted by the SMSC, the cost of that short
message is calculated and the prepaid account is decremented with the calculated
cost. When the prepaid SMS account is zero, the prepaid subscriber will be
blocked on the SMSC platform. Note that in blocked state, the prepaid subscriber is
still capable of receiving and sending messages if these messages are not to be
charged to his prepaid SMS account.
2.4.2 One prepaid account or separate prepaid accounts
Dependent on the marketing strategy of the operator, the operator has the choice to
either implement separate budgets for voice and SMS or to implement one virtual
prepaid account per subscriber for both voice and SMS. In the latter case, the
SMS Prepaid Billing System will attempt to load a configurable amount of new SMS
credit automatically from the voice account1. The configurable amount makes sure
that the interface to the operators prepaid billing system is not over-loaded.
In the case where separate budgets for voice and SMS are to be implemented, an
SMS based end-user interface is available to transfer credit between the voice
account and the SMS account. Alternatively, a provisioning interface to the SMSPBS is available to the operator2. Using the SMS-PBS provisioning interface, the
IVR system used for reloading prepaid can be equipped for reloading SMS credit at
the SMS-PBS. Other available provisioning commands include creating and
removing prepaid accounts, querying SMS credit for a specified account and
unloading a specified account (i.e. subtracting credit).

By interfacing with SCP via IDP operation (standardised in INAP Capability Set 1, thus supported by all SCPs), or using
special TCP/IP protocol (specs available under NDA)
2
Specifications available under NDA
1

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2.4.3 Recipient charging

For a mobile to mobile message normally the originator of a short message is
charged3. However, when a message is sent by an Information Provider providing
valuable content a message should be charged to the prepaid account of the
recipient. CMG's Prepaid SMS solution supports this on a per Large Account basis.
2.4.4 Allow blocked prepaid subscribers to send free SMS to certain Large
Accounts
The operator is capable of configuring a Large Account to accept free messages.
When a subscriber is blocked, he is still capable of submitting short messages to
these free Large Accounts.
2.4.5 Mixed post-paid and pre-paid on one system
Both post paid and prepaid subscribers can be handled on the same SMSC. Postpaid subscribers are normally charged via the CDR's produced by the SMSC and
are outside scope of the SMS Prepaid Billing System.
2.4.6 Support for distributed SMSC's
The SMS Prepaid Billing System is designed to work in a network where one or
more CMG SMSCs are involved, thus ensuring optimal return on investment for the
operator.
2.4.7 Hybrid charging support
Networks that have prepaid SMS charging enabled using MSC / SCP solution in
the own network (described in section 2.1.2), have trouble charging an SMS when
it is sent from outside the own network. CMG's solution can in these cases be used
to charge only those messages that were originated outside the own network thus
preventing double charging the prepaid subscriber.
2.4.8 Possible refund in case of non delivered message
The operator can configure whether non-delivered messages involving a prepaid
subscriber shall be charged to the prepaid subscriber. In case non delivered
messages should not be charged, the SMSC can be configured to refund the SMS
credit for the non delivered message.

The system can also be configured that the recipient is charged for a mobile to mobile message. This can be the case in
countries that have recipient charging as a rule (e.g. the United States)
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2.4.9 Differentiated charging

Differentiated charging is enabled by providing the operator with a configurable
service logic. The service logic defines an unambiguous rule to calculate the price
of a prepaid short message based on the following parameters:
1. Recipient address (applicable to mobile originated messages). It is possible to
define a charging rule based on the type of address (PID, NPI), the prefix of
the recipient address as well as on the complete recipient address as it was
entered by the MO user.
2. Originator address (applicable to mobile terminated messages). It is possible to
define a charging rule based on the type of address (PID, NPI), prefix of the
originator address as well as on the complete originator address. Using this
charging rule it is for instance possible to charge MT messages to the prepaid
account if they were sent by certain Large Accounts.
3. Class of service of the prepaid subscriber. The operator can define charging
rules for three types of prepaid subscribers: business user, consumer user and
friendly user.
4. Time of day and days in week (e.g. off peek tariffs after 18:00 hours and on
Saturdays and Sundays)
5. A certain predefined period between two specified dates (e.g. reduced tariff as
an introduction offer by the operator)

2.4.10 Other advantages

In case of interfacing to SCPs, the number of transactions sent from the

SMS-PBS to the SCP can be influenced by the operator , e.g. by issuing an
SCP transaction once every configurable number of SMSs. This feature
avoids the disadvantage of direct interfaccing to SCPs described in section
2.2.

The system can be configured to send a warning message to the subscriber in

case the prepaid subscriber is nearly blocked. The system can also send a
notification message in case the prepaid subscriber has been blocked.

There is no need for changes in the SS7 network.

There is no influence on (the performance of) the HLR, because blocking of

prepaid subscribers is done on the SMSC.

Because the solution is based on the SMSC, roaming is supported;

Independent via which network the message enters the system, the message
can be charged.

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Integration in network

3.1 Administrating prepaid SMS users

In order to utilise CMG's prepaid billing solution, prepaid users using SMS have to
be registered on the SMS-PBS. A bulk load mechanism (for offline initial load) is
provided as well an provisioning interface for online registering of prepaid users.

3.2 Integration to PBS using RASP

As an add-on to the SMS-PBS system, the RASP system (recharge application
SMS prepaid) will be available. The RASP system implements an interface based
on the CS1 standard to one or multiple SCPs. The CS1 transactions (IDP) are
sent over the SS7 network to the proper SCP based on a MSISDN range to SCP
mapping table. A prerequisite is that prepaid subscribers accounts are distributed
over the operators SCPs based on consecutive MSISDN ranges.
In case of non IN based prepaid billing systems, integration between the RASP and
the PBS can be done based on a documented TCP/IP interface. 4
The RASP add-on is a prerequisite when the operator requires integrated prepaid
accounts for voice and SMS.
SCP 1

Message
suvmission
SMSC1

SMS
2000/s PBS

N/s

RASP
-

SS7
Network

SCP 2

N/s
SCP 3

Message
delivery

10

SCP 4

Specifications available under NDA

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In case of separate accounts for voice and SMS, the RASP will accept MO
commands initiating transfers of credit from PBS to SMS-PBS or vice versa. When
the prepaid user is blocked, the CMG SMSC can be configured such that he is still
capable of sending messages to the RASP system. On receipt of a mobile
originated short message the RASP will move a requested amount of credit to the
originator's SMS account. Other commands the RASP supports include querying
the SMS account and unloading credit from the SMS account back to the voice
account.

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3.3 Integration with IVR system

As an alternative to integration using the RASP, the operator can adjust his IVR
system such that an IVR menu item becomes available to recharge SMS credit.
When the end-user selects this menu item, the provisioning interface of the SMSPBS will add a specified amount of credit to the SMS credit amount of the specified
MSISDN.

IVR

Message
Suvmission
SMSC1

PBS 1

Recharge SMS credit

PBS 2
Wide

SMS PBS

Area
Network

Message
delivery

12

PBS 3

PBS 4

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Technical information

4.1 Scalability
The SMS prepaid billing system has a scalable architecture. The storage of prepaid
accounts is distributed over multiple parallel processes providing no single point of
failure. Persistency is ensured using multiple shadowed disks.
Because of this scalability, the SMS prepaid billing system can run on a multi-node
environment, providing full loadsharing. Therefore it can be guaranteed that the
SMS Prepaid Billing System will keep up with the performance of CMG's SMSC as
it increases.

4.2 Redundancy
As stated above, the storage of prepaid accounts is distributed over multiple parallel
processes each having their own shadowed disks.
If a process holding the prepaid account of a certain subscriber range is not
available, e.g. in case of a node failure, failover is provided by one of the remaining
processes which will store the incoming debits until the original process is available
again.

4.3 Capacity
The SMS-PBS is capable of storing account information for a subscriber range
upto 20 million subscribers, i.e. the system can be deployed in networks upto 20
million subscribers.
In large networks the SMS-PBS has to run on separate multinode hardware. In
medium and small networks the SMS-PBS can be combined on the backend nodes
of a CMG SMSC system (single node, dual node, quad node and HPS tri node). A
few modifications to the hardware are required. A.o. the amount of memory and the
amount of disks need to be increased.

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