Creating a Future-ready Network Platform for SLTMOBITEL

Faced with an unprecedented increase in bandwidth demand, SLTMOBITEL needed a network platform for the smooth functioning of its existing services. The NCINGA designed platform has enabled SLTMOBITEL to address evolving customer needs while providing them with the agility to respond to future needs.

Industry: Telecommunications
Location: APAC

Introducing the Customer: SLTMOBITEL

SLTMOBITEL is the oldest and one of the leading information and communications technology (ICT) solutions providers in Sri Lanka. SLTMOBITEL’s portfolio of offerings include mobile, broadband, data, cloud computing and hosting, and networking solutions for individuals and businesses throughout the country. The company operates a sophisticated Value Added Service (VAS) platform to provide advanced and enhanced features for their customer base of over 9 million who use SLTMOBITEL’s many solutions. SLTMOBITEL also offers other services through its subsidiaries. These include a healthcare channeling platform, tertiary educational services, HR solutions, submarine cable maintenance, infrastructure and systems integration solutions, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services and content creation facilities, directory services, and software solutions.

A Legacy Platform That Needed Upgrading for Today’s Needs and Future Plans

SLTMOBITEL is looking to the future. The company is in the process of expanding their VAR platform to improve services and experiences for their broadband customers. When bandwidth demand surged during the onset of the pandemic and there was a shift to hybrid working models, providing faster, more reliable connectivity for their customers became even more important for SLTMOBITEL.

Yet, the existing legacy Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) platform at SLTMOBITEL was proving to be problematic. It caused many limitations:



Telecommunications is an industry that requires flexibility and adaptability to stay abreast with emerging trends. Upgrading the legacy PCEF platform was absolutely necessary if SLTMOBITEL were to remain competitive in the long term. Moreover, given the size of its customer base - along with the scale and breadth of their offerings - there was no room for error. A simple mistake would have affected millions of people and businesses plus led to a substantial loss of revenue. SLTMOBITEL approached NCINGA to help them realize their goals and requirements.

Goals

To upgrade the PCEF platform, SLTMOBITEL and NCINGA first identified software and hardware changes required:

Technology Implementation

NCINGA’s team, with its decade-long experience in the telecommunications industry, performed a comprehensive analysis of the challenges. We created a network design and migration plan that divided this exhaustive process into multiple phases. This ensured that customers and revenue were not adversely affected at any point during the migration process - and that no data was lost too.

NCINGA replaced all 7-node PCEF clusters with 2-node ones that are capable of handling more than 1.5 times of bandwidth demand, replaced the inter-site dark fiber cluster with simpler dark fiber cluster links, and used the latest 100G interfaces to integrate data traffic interfaces with aggregation and core routers. All of these contributed towards the elimination of complexity and improved operational efficiency within the PCEF platform. The NCINGA team also successfully migrated all proprietary hardware-based appliances and bare metal servers to a fully virtual environment. Moreover, we replaced the hardware and software components that were no longer covered under their warranty agreements with the latest Sandvine technology.

A Modern, Resilient Platform That Supports Customer Demand