lifecell and Optiva Enabled Continuous Connectivity for Ukraine in Dangerous Times
Case Study in Numbers
12 weeks
to deploy a production-ready, fully upgraded BSS platform
45% faster
deployment time for new disaster recovery sites during war
1 minute
to onboard a new subscriber digitally, without travel to physical locations
Customer Background
lifecell is a Ukrainian telecommunications operator providing mobile communication and data transfer services based on high-speed internet. The company offers convenient and beneficial tariffs and services for users of smart devices.
Customer Opportunity
As the geo-political situation in Ukraine worsened, the top priority for lifecell was to ensure the continuity of its telecom services to citizens, military, and medical workers. It urgently needed a reliable and flexible solution to quickly and securely implement a self-managed disaster recovery strategy to drive its operations.
The existing disaster recovery site was near the frontline, and a new safe disaster recovery site was a critical requirement. In addition, because 60% of lifecell employees were unable to work in their local offices, the ability to operate and maintain these systems remotely was mandatory. Without this, the citizens of Ukraine were at risk of losing critical connectivity services.
Despite the war, lifecell was also determined to expand its BSS and charging systems to keep pace with current and future customer needs, including opportunities presented by 5G connectivity and beyond. It had plans to introduce new capabilities via functional enhancements of its existing revenue monetization technology stack, and it aimed to provide expanded support for its existing VoLTE services and enhance policy control.
When the war began, our top priority was to protect our customers and their connectivity. Optiva’s modern and reliable platform enabled us to deploy a critical new disaster recovery site in just six weeks. Configuration flexibility allows us to configure non-standard products and functionalities. Optiva also empowered us to implement billing for new services in just several hours. It was critical for keeping Ukrainians connected when so many people were forced to leave their homes and the country. Despite the crisis, we have undergone a digital transformation and will continue to upgrade and expand our mission-critical systems by working closely with Optiva’s professional and highly experienced team and leveraging its BSS solutions to launch 5G services to rebuild our nation.
Volodymyr Rusanovych
Manager, Applications Operations
lifecell
Solution
Optiva’s flexible and modern charging and billing platform enabled lifecell’s mission-critical telco operations. Optiva’s modularity, automation capabilities, and architectural flexibility supported lifecell in setting up new disaster recovery sites in six weeks (45% faster than the competition) at a new and safer location in Ukraine far away from the frontline. Optiva’s BSS experts supported full replication of the application and customer data, ensuring reliable and continuous connectivity services critical for citizens of Ukraine during life-threatening and difficult times.
Optiva’s team worked hand in hand with the lifecell team. It provided 24/7 remote support for developing and testing disaster recovery applications and data instances, including many non-standard changes, while working closely with other functions as one team. By leveraging AI-driven contextual insights of Optiva’s solution and insights from a specialized vendor, lifecell could also implement immediate service suspension for illegitimate service users in less than one minute, preventing nefarious and dangerous activities.
Optiva has deployed the latest version of its revenue monetization platform, including online charging, billing, product catalog, and voucher management and more. The platform also includes a new interface for 5G core network integration support and will enable lifecell to quickly support 5G charging when the time is right to deploy 5G in Ukraine.
With the new system in place, lifecell can now meet customer needs faster and offer international roaming and the types of plans needed by citizens, medical workers, and the military. By leveraging 100+ built-in, out-of-the-box templates and automated testing frameworks, including thousands of pre-defined test cases, lifecell has decreased the testing period and manual resource requirements, accelerating operational velocity. Optiva has also enabled end-to-end digital customer lifecycle management from service ordering and onboarding to provisioning, change management, and care.
Benefits
Optiva Charging Engine’s state-of-the-art technology offers telecom operators unique benefits to accelerate competitive edge.
Six weeks
Optiva Charging Engine’s state-of-the-art technology offers telecom operators unique benefits to accelerate competitive edge.
1.
Seven days
to launch a completely new national roaming service leveraging
2.
One minute
to digitally register a new subscriber (via bank-id, e-signature, government channel integration Diya, and bank partners) and activation of an eSIM from home
3.
Less than five minutes
for remote mobile number porting (MNP) process, allowing subscribers to make port requests, check status, select tariffs, and set SIMcard or eSIM
4.
One day
to launch international roaming services to help people who were forced to leave the country to stay connected to their loved ones
5.
100% continuity
of the telecom operations by enabling connectivity for Ukrainians
6.
