COMPETENCY DEMONSTRATION

REPORT

SUBMITTED TO
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA

BY

Rajni Bala Bhagat

March 2017
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that all statements of fact in this report are true and correct and I have made
claims of acquired competencies in good faith. The report describes all my own work and is a
true representation in the field of Telecommunications of my personal competence. I confirm
that I understand that members of the engineering team in Australia are required to display a
commitment to exercising professional and ethical responsibility in all aspects of their work. I
also understand that documentation submitted in support of my application may be referred to
the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) for integrity checking.

Name: Rajni Bala Bhagat

Signature:
Date:
CHAPTER 1. CAREER EPISODE 1

1.1 Introduction

This career episode describes my professional experience to handle and execute the CIP/IP
(Charging Interrogation Protocol/ Internet Protocol) in Idea Cellular - a part of Aditya Birla
group. Idea is Indias third largest mobile operator by subscriber base. The project tenure was
from June 2011 October 2011, which is around 5 months. I was part of the business
configuration team from Ericsson India Global Service Pvt. Ltd, market leader in the telecom
field. I was appointed as an Engineer responsible for the Refill Recharges & Tariff Configuration
and testing for Prepaid Intelligent Network (IN).

1.2 Background
Idea Cellular commonly referred to as simply Idea. Idea is a pan-India integrated GSM operator
offering 2G, 3G, 4G mobile services and also provides customized solutions according to
business specific needs and has 191 million subscribers as of 31 December 2016. During its
inception in 1995, Aditya Birla Group, Tata Group and AT&T Wireless each held one-third equity
in the company. Following AT&T Wireless' merger with Cingular Wireless in 2004, Cingular
decided to sell its 32.9% stake in Idea. This stake was bought by the remaining two stakeholders
equally. Tata forayed into the cellular market with its own subsidiary, Tata Indicom, a CDMA-
based mobile provider and in April 2006, Aditya Birla Group announced the acquisition of the
48.18% stake held by Tata Group at INR 40.51 a share amounting to INR 44.06 billion with 15%
of the stake acquired by Aditya Birla Nuvo and the remaining by Birla TMT holdings Private Ltd.
both AV Birla family owned companies. Malaysia based Axiata bought a 19.96% stake in the
company in 2009.In January, 2017, it was confirmed that Idea was in talks to merge with
Vodafone Group's Indian operation.

Ericsson is a multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services

company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The company offers services, software and
infrastructure in information and communications technology (ICT) for telecommunications
operators, traditional telecommunications and Internet Protocol (IP) networking equipment,
mobile and fixed broadband, operations and business support services, cable television, IPTV,
video systems, and an extensive services operation. 40% of the world's mobile traffic is carried
over Ericsson networks.
The company was founded in 1876 by Lars Magnus Ericsson; headquartered in Stockholm,
Sweden. The company employs around 101414 people and operates in around 180 countries.
Ericsson has one of the industry's strongest patent portfolios with a total count of over 39,000.

1.2.1 In the current architecture, the communication interface protocol between the Charging
Control Node (CCN) and Service Data Point (SDP) is CIP/SS7 (Charging Interrogation Protocol/
Signaling System 7). The objective of this project is to introduce a new internal interface
between CCN and SDP. The Charging Interrogation Protocol over IP (CIP/IP) is an application
protocol on top of Stream Control Transmission Protocol over IP (SCTP/IP).

1.2.2 CIP/IP gives high flexibility for clients by offering context and service configuration. The
context defines a service level agreement between a credit-control client and a credit-control
server covering the rating and offered services. Two kinds of contexts exist; user defined
contexts and locked contexts. It is not possible to add any services to a locked context. User
defined contexts have no services added to them by default, and the services that can be added
may be configured fully.

1.2.3 Configuration for CIP/IP is required in the following nodes:

CCN Charging Control Node

SDP Service Data Point
EMM Ericsson Multi Mediation.

My responsibility in the project was to do the SDP configuration for all Voice and SMS traffic.
Once the configuration was done my next task is to do end-to end testing to ensure that there
is no traffic impact.

1.2.4 Vertical of this project in Ericsson involved Project Manager, Solution Architect; CA
Manger (Customer Assurance) and Engineers. Scope and responsibilities were divided and
shared as per the node. I was working as an Engineer responsible for SDP business Plans
configurations and testing.
Project Manager: Responsible for complete project delivery.

Solution Architect: responsible for complete solution design and analysis.

CA Manager: Responsible for complete Business configurations delivery.

Engineers: Multiple Teams responsible for performing upgrades and configurations of different
nodes.

1.2.5 I was provided the support from my company to carry out all the tasks, both internal to
the department and also from the integration team to configure the tariff which helped us in
achieving our goal timely with positive customer satisfaction. My role was to coordinate with
client & simultaneously ensure internally that the design is completed according to the required
specifications shared by client. I regularly kept myself updated with current and upcoming
technologies. I also ensured regularly to go through the Ericssons manuals to enhance my
knowledge.

1.3 Personal Engineering Activity

This section of the career episode describes my professional experience in the Business
configurations for the new interface in the Charging System Network.
1.3.1 My task in this project was

To understand the existing configuration.

To gather all the required information needed for the configuration.
To prepare SDP node with new configurations to handle CIP/IP traffic.

1.3.2 The implementation of the entire process was to be done firstly on the test bed before
the roll-out in the live network. We followed certain set of procedures and standards to
design safe systems configuration as per Ericsson and Idea Professional Codes of Conduct.
Implementation in the test system ensures smooth delivery in the live network. My task was
to ensure that the test bed configuration is ready for the implementation having the same
tariff as that of the live nodes.

1.3.3 I started configuration in the SDP to interrogate the charging request over CIP/IP. The
Diameter configurations in the SDP must be ready to handle CIP/IP traffic. Along with the CIP/IP
configuration I proposed many of my ideas to optimize the existing tariff trees to minimize the
load in the network. My ideas were acknowledged by Idea cellular and were implemented
according to process.

SDP configurations involve the following steps:

1) Update Number Normalization: For all CIP/IP traffic the subscription Id is received in
international format and must be normalized to match the format in the database. This
is done with the number normalization tree which has to be updated to handle the
conversion from international format to the format used in the database.

2) Update selection trees: Before any traffic can be processed the used selection trees
must be updated to handle the services that will use CIP/IP. Below parameters were
updated:

Charging context Id: Services using CIP/IP can be based on different contexts. A
service is now identified with a combination of the Charging Context Id field and
Service Identifier field so the selection trees must be updated to be able to
identify the correct service.

Network Id: Network id is the result of a lookup in a mapping table using the
network prefix, and if no match was found a default value was used. This mapping is
not done in the SDP. When using CIP/IP the network id is replaced with Other-Party-
Id-MNP-IMSI, Other-Party-Id-MNP-RN and Other-Party-Id-MNP-Result. The trees
using network id must be updated to use this new parameter instead.

SMS Charging: When charging the SMS using CIP/IP, two things have changed
how SMSC address is handled and the unit type used. In the old solution the
 Called-Party-Number contained either the recipients number or the SMSC
address; this is configured outside the SDP. In CIP/IP both the Other-Party-Id and
the SMSC-Address can be received and the trees have to be updated to handle
this difference. The unit type has changed from time (60 seconds) to service
specific units when charging for SMS using CIP/IP, the rating trees needs to be
updated to handle this. Before a common solution for SMS charging has been to
combine a fee modifier and a rate modifier with zero charge, now this can be
replaced with a single rate modifier.

1.3.4 Once the entire configuration was done my next major task was to test the CIP/IP
functionality. End to end testing is performed for all Voice/SMS traffic. The Test CDRs (Call
Detailed Reports) are forwarded to the EMM and Reporting server. I also coordinated with the
Reporting team to ensure all the reports are generated properly.

1.3.5 After implementation and testing was completed in the Test Bed, our next roll to start the
preparation for the Live Roll Out. My task was to prepare configurations for live tariff. I
discussed the procedures with other team members and appreciated the inputs shared by
them. Exchanged ideas within the team and applied positive changes in my design. After that
we started our preparation for the Live Roll-out.
The major time taking task was to update the SDP selection trees for handling the CIP/IP traffic.
After the configuration was complete a second validation was done among the team for error
free delivery to the customer.

1.3.6 Idea Network had 3 SDPs to handle traffic in the network. The implementation nodes and
plan is as detailed below:
 Implementation SDP50, SDP73, SDP74, CCN1, CCN2, EMM, Reporting Server CIP/IP
Package: configuration.

Implementation Ericsson Office.

Place:
Implementation Preconfiguring Diameter stack between SDP- CCN: 1 Week before cut-over
process
Pre-Configurations SDP50/SDP73/SDP74: Starts 2 Week before Cut-Over

Pre-Configurations CCN1/CCN2: 2 Week before Cut-Over

Configuration changes on Reporting Server for AMA format

Implementation Link Activation : 01 :00 to 05 :00

Time:
Live Cut-Over : 01 :00 to 05 :00

1.3.7 CIP-IP Activation Flowchart

1.3.8 The final step was the Live Cut-over of the CIP/IP. The detailed CIP/IP activation flow:

Live CIP/IP Cutover

1 Pre-Health checks.
2 Final checks on all configurations done on SDP/CCN.
3 Activate SDP tariffs for CIP-IP(with CIP/SS7 branch) on all SDPs.
4 Verify CIP-SS7 is working fine after activating CIP-IP tariffs.
5 Stop billing gateway processing of all CDRs
6 Activate CIP-IP from CCN

7 Activate the new tariffs containing only the CIP/IP branch after ensuring there are
no more calls ongoing on CIP/SS7
8 Remove the SIT values in the 8 DA Definition groups
9 Verification of new CIP-IP service
10 New Billing formatter activation.
11 Inform reporting server team for using the new formatter and confirm the
functionality by verifying
12 New billing formatter verification on LIVE
13 Make sure the last file on CIP/SS7 is sent for processing

1.3.9 Once the activity was done successfully on the cut-over date. We closely monitored the
Network for the next 72 hrs after the Cut-Over. Acceptance testing was done by Idea after the
Roll-Out. The CDRs were closely verified by the Reporting teams.

1.3.10 The project presentation was prepared to share with higher management and other
teams after completion. Knowledge sharing sessions were also conducted for operation team
for better understanding of the modules.

1.4 Summary
While working on different business configuration for Voice and SMS services, this was my first
project on Protocol Level Interface Implementation. I gained practical knowledge from this
project and it was excellent from engineering, management and design point of view. It was a
fruitful project which helped me to develop my skills a lot. I feel lucky enough to be part of this
project and professional team as it gave me a great deal of confidence and exposure. I learnt to
communicate effectively. It gave me confidence to deal with complex and difficult network
design projects.

1.5 Problems faced

1.5.1 the most critical task was to do the proper SDP Configuration considering small mistake
in tariff can lead to huge revenue loss to both customer and Ericsson as plenty. The crucial and
important part is to understand the existing tariff. Some service class tariff was wrongly
configured in existing network which was noticed and rectified during the CIP/IP configuration.
CHAPTER 2. CAREER EPISODE 2

2.1 Introduction

This career episode describes my professional experience to implement the Mobile Broadband
Charging 2.3 in the Airtel, Bangladesh. Airtel is one of the fastest growing mobile services providers
in Bangladesh. The project tenure was from March 2014 to September 2014 which was around
6 months. Ericsson was providing the end to end solution in terms of the network architecture
and design. My role in this project was, to configure the Data & policy control products and to
do end to end testing as senior engineer.

2.2 Background

Airtel in Bangladesh, is currently an independent product brand of Robi Axiata, since Robi
Axiata Limited is the Licensee of 'Airtel' Brand in Bangladesh. The brand came under the control
of Robi Axiata after Airtel Bangladesh Limited was successfully merged into Robi Axiata Limited
on 16 November 2016. Robi Axiata Limited is a joint venture between Axiata Group of Malaysia,
Bharti Airtel of India and NTT Docomo Inc. of Japan. Axiata holds 68.7% controlling stake in the
entity, Bharti holds 25% while the remaining 6.3% is held by NTT Docomo of Japan. It is the
second largest mobile phone operator of Bangladesh as of November 2016. The company
provides nationwide network coverage. The Airtel brand in Bangladesh was formerly owned by
Airtel Bangladesh Ltd., previously known as Warid Telecom which was a GSM and 3G based
mobile operator. Warid was the sixth mobile operator to enter the Bangladesh market and
originally launched commercial operations under the brand name 'Warid' on May 10, 2007. In
2010, Bharti Airtel bought out majority share of the company

2.2.1 This project was about implementation of Mobile Broadband Charging (MBC) for the
Airtel Data Charging Solution. Ericsson MBC is a convergent data rating, charging and policy
management product which provides a platform for advanced real-time charging of data
services along with policy control functions. It implements functionality defined in the Online
Charging System (OCS) and in the Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) as described in
the 3GPP standards, this way creating an innovative and efficient way of combining policy
management and charging.
2.2.2 The main business drivers in the mobile broadband domain addressed by MBC .

The switch from GSM (2G) and UTRAN (3G) to HSPA and E-UTRAN (4G, LTE) multiplies
access speeds reaching almost the same level as fixed access. Consumed volumes per
day are increasing exponentially. With this the user experience improves dramatically,
but risks lead to Bill Shock. MBC addresses these issues with real- time consumption and
monetary spending limit control for all subscribers.

Fair Usage Policy: An efficient way to increase mobile broadband is Flat-Fee, but Fat-
Fee creates a challenge for operators as it attracts heavy users, a small number of
subscribers who absorb all available network resources leaving majority of subscribers
with an unacceptably bad quality of service making them churn out of the network.
MBC takes care of this challenge via support for Fair Usage Policies with volume caps
and reduced bandwidth for subscribers when they hit their usage limit.

MBC supports differentiated charging as well as differentiated Quality of Service for

different subscriber segments where heavy users are allowed to consume but not
absorb all resources. By setting lower priority on heavy consumers, other subscribers
will be served first during congested hours. This enhances total user experience.

MBC provides value added Offerings with each subscription having a set of rules
defining available services, usage limits, price, speed, network priority and validity time.

Improve user perception by expanding Charging system customers from voice into data
offers.

2.2.3 With depth knowledge of the Charging System and technologies, I was a key person for
the project for product configurations. I was involved in designing products based on
customer expectations keeping in mind the market dynamics and the company standards. I
managed to meet all the KPI requirements within the project timeline. I participated regularly
in various vendor & customer meetings and Project workshops to ensure the business
requirement are met.

2.2.4 The MBC solution includes the following Domains for Airtel.

Packet Core Team

SAPC- Determines the Policy and Charging Control Information
Charging System Handles the real time charging.
Each of these domains has a Solution Architect and 3-4 engineers /Solution Integrators
working under them. A lead Senior Solution Architect (SA) is assigned for the overall project
to look after the technical aspects. All Solution Architects report to this Lead Solution
Architect. Also a Project Manager is assigned for the proper management of the project. I
was delegated the role of senior engineer for the Charging system node.

2.3 Personal Engineering Activity

As a part of this project, I was responsible for handling Data and Policy configurations and to
handle the changes in the Charging System for the MBC implementation. Ericsson Charging
System 5 is the central component in the Airtel Charging solution, where all requests for
subscription, un-subscription, enquiry and charging of data services terminates. The Charging
System mediate the packet core and services networks as well as the IT and provisioning
platforms to provide the possibility to flexibly offer cross-promotions and cross-bundling to its
subscribers.

2.3.1 The network Diagram below describes the target data charging solution architecture:

Ericsson GGSN acting as PGW supporting Gx Release 8 and Gy Release 7

Ericsson Charging System (CS 5) Comprises of CCN 5.5 (CS 5.1) Supporting Gx Rel 8
and Gy Rel7
 SDP 5.4 ICP 12-0-1

CCN to GGSN is Diameter Interfaces GX-GY

CCN to SDP is CIP/IP is Interface

2.3.2 The major role I had, was to design and implement the Offers and Promotions for the new
solution. To do this I first did a detailed study of the various marketing promotions that are
configured in Airtel data charging network environment. This gave me idea about the current
products launched in the network and the scope of development in the future products. These
offers and promotions have been implemented by Airtel over the past years as a result of
various marketing and business requirements. I listed down all the needs to be analyzed for the
solution design and business configuration design. I ensured to do a proper handshake with
customer for smooth delivery as expected from management.

2.3.3 After gathering all the information, I started doing the feasibility check for all the
products. The existing Data and Content Billing solution does not fulfill the needs of Airtel due
to the increased demand for data services. So the challenge was to create an affordable and
attractive offering, enabling a good user experience for all customers, while remaining
profitable. I did tariff innovations with differentiated offerings, tailored to customers
requirements for bandwidth, usage and willingness to pay offering the possibility to flexibly
monitor, rate and notify for mobile broadband services utilized.

2.3.4 As Sr. Engineer I ensured to attain the required knowledge on MBC proposed by Ericsson
to design the products as per the marketing requirements and follow the professional Codes of
Conduct.

2.3.5 The Charging System handles the online charging of voice, SMS, data and VAS services. It
rates and reserves the necessary funds for the user as an integral part of service delivery. This
prevents credit overruns while giving service providers control of credit and users more
spending control.

Ericsson Charging System helps service providers to get revenue while giving personalized
service offering, promotion and individual bonuses to subscribers.

The CS Components are:

Charging Control Node is the access control node terminating Gy from core network and
sending interrogations to the SDP via Charging Interrogation Protocol (CIP/IP). CCN will also
terminate the ESy from SAPC and send to the SDP.
The Subscriber Data Point (SDP) holds the rating engine, static data such as business plans
(service class) configuration, notification rules, adjustment logic etc. and dynamic subscriber
data such as real-time balances, lifecycle dates, counters etc. SDP also triggers start, mid and
end of call/session notifications, balances threshold and lifecycle notifications.

Account Information Refill (AIR) hosts the refill logic. For this solution, AIR will be entry point
into Charging System for all subscription fulfillment and enquiries initiated from ESDP and other
components, such as CMDS/Channels.

2.3.6 The Ericsson Service Aware Policy Controller (SAPC) product enables subscriber- and
service- centric Policy Control capabilities to Mobile Broadband, Mobile IMS, System
Architecture Evolution- (SAE) and fixed deployments.

SAPC acts as PCRF centralizing the policy in operators network, collects information about
subscribers behavior and network events responsible for policy decision for the subscriber and
convey the decision to other transport network elements based on the operators pre-defined
policy rules.

SAPC adds better subscription management capabilities through the Ericsson Sy interface with
Charging System, enabling policy control based on monetary limits in addition to usage limits.
When SAPC receives triggers from the Charging System over the ESy interface, it evaluates
relevant policies for the subscribers. These policies result in actions that must be enforced by
GGSN and SASN. In Etisalats case, the policies will be enforced through SASN and EPG.

2.3.7 After the architectural understanding of the network, my next step was to mapped the
data usage policies and enforced upon subscribers based on:
Individual spending limits as per data subscribed packages
Browsing speed requirements
Spending Platform
Use of specific devices and specific services etc

2.3.8 I gained information on the features of CS that would be activated and deployed on the
Data Charging solution for Airtel.
1. Rating and Charging of data services over Gy Service Context
2. Usage Reporting
3. Policy information provisioning and update over ESy interface
4. Timer Charging
5. Data Limit
6. Shared Accounts
7. Data Roaming Limit Handling
8. Data Traffic Rating
9. Periodic Account Management
10. Offer Management
11. Composite Dedicated Account
2.3.9 After network features activation I mapped the data usage policies and designed new
products based on:

New features activated.

Offers purchased by subscribers.
Individual spending limits as per data subscribed packages.
Browsing speed and individual browning behavior
Spending Platform
Use of specific devices and specific services etc

2.3.10 My next task was to prepare the solution design keeping in mind to enhance the to-be
Network Architecture and the existing solution in place. I did a data mapping exercise where
each data element residing in source systems are mapped to target system keeping all aspects
of the solution in mind- Subscription, Usage, Reporting etc. I also had to ensure that the
Solution fulfills all the marketing and business requirements. All the documents and the designs
planned were in line with the clients professional ethics and codes of conduct.

2.3.11 Once the product design was ready, it was reviewed by all Ericsson stakeholders and
mutually agreed with Customer. As part of review process and solution evolution, necessary
modifications were made to finalize the tariff design and business requirements. After mutual
agreement and sign off between Ericsson and Airtel, Ericsson project team prepared the High
Level Design, Low Level Design and the Implementation documents.

2.3.12 The next phase was the Implementation part that involves product configuration in the
CS and SAPC nodes. Ericsson was solely responsible for these configurations. As I was
experienced resource in Ericsson charging system I configured the business cases. The end
subscribers use cases are broadly divided in the following categories: - Subscription, Data
Usage, Enquiries, Notification, Capping.

2.3.13 Below are the Technical product configurations which I handled include:

Configuring the functionality of once and Monthly Recurring Data Packs.

Configuring Data Roaming packages.
Configuring the Bonus data based on used data.
Configure usage based notifications for the subscribers, sending expiry /renewal
based notifications to the end user.
Configuration of time based and usage based renewal of the Data Packs.
 Configure the capping rules. Capping rules used to limit the maximum amount of
data traffic that can be used by a subscriber in a given time. Three types of capping
rules exist currently

Soft Cap: Pay As You Go rate applies after subscribed data bundle exhausts
Blocked Cap: No browsing allowed after subscribed data bundle exhausts
Unlimited Cap: No upper limit on the amount of data volume that a subscriber can use

By default, a soft cap is applied to all subscribers (prepaid or postpaid) at the time of
provisioning which can be changed based on subscriber profiles, promotions or subscriber
requests. Subscribers can also query their existing cap limit.

2.3.14 After all the business configurations are implemented, the acceptance testing phase
started. Both Ericsson and Airtel were jointly involved in the testing. In case of any issues faced
by the testing team it is raised to the Project Team. As I was part of the configuration team, I
applied my skills to analyze the issues and provide the best solution within the required
timeline.

2.3.15 On completion of each phase of the project, the final task for me to prepare the
presentation for the higher management and configuration team. Highlighted the issues we
removed from the network and suggested improvements to be applied. I also prepared a
before and after analysis of the network. I worked in co-ordination with all the team members. I
initiated and organized discussions among team members for some of the issues faced and
accordingly finalized a solution.

2.4 Summary
I was assigned diverse responsibilities in the project execution, faced many challenges in the
product deployment. I demonstrated my knowledge in both engineering and non-engineering
fields. My personal role contributed a lot in the project, I used my knowledge to troubleshoot
issues and hence increase KPI. I analyzed all the business needs ensuring smooth integration
and execution of the new products and services and ensured that the project is delivered on
time.

2.5 Problems faced

2.5.1 The CDRs (Call Detail Report) were not generated properly after the Online Data Charging
was implemented with timer offer. This impacted the Reporting System generating subscriber
reports showing various aspects of usage and subscription. As there was enrichment in the CDR
content due to data services being rated and charged in Charging System. To correct this logic
and configuration was updated in the Ericson Multi Mediation system which sends the charged
report to customer network for further processing.

2.5.2 We faced many issues because of the fixed reservation in charging system. A Dynamic
service configuration (DSC) is done which provides the reservation logic for the data calls based
upon the balance in main account/ free buckets and time since the last reservation
interrogation was done.

2.5.3 The many rating tree was present in live tariff so the optimization of the rating trees is
done to reduce the number of tariffs existing in the live network
CHAPTER 3. CAREER EPISODE 3

3.1 Introduction

This episode describes my experience as Sr. Engineer (2nd level support Dept.) at Ericsson India
Global Services Pvt Ltd (EGIL).I worked in this project as Business Configuration Engineer for
Idea Cellular CS4 to CS5 Upgrade, from Sept 2015 Feb2016. My Role in projects was to do
business configurations on different prepaid charging nodes for broadband, Voice and SMS
products.

3.2 Background

Ericsson is a multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services

company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The company offers services, software and
infrastructure in information and communications technology (ICT) for telecommunications
operators, traditional telecommunications and Internet Protocol (IP) networking equipment,
mobile and fixed broadband, operations and business support services, cable television, IPTV,
video systems, and an extensive services operation. 40% of the world's mobile traffic is carried
over Ericsson networks.

The company was founded in 1876 by Lars Magnus Ericsson; headquartered in Stockholm,
Sweden. The company employs around 127967 people and operates in around 180 countries.
Ericsson has one of the industry's strongest patent portfolios with a total count of over
39,000Telecom.

Idea Cellular commonly referred to as simply Idea. Idea is a pan-India integrated GSM operator
offering 2G, 3G, 4G mobile services and also provides customized solutions according to
business specific needs and has 191 million subscribers as of 31 December 2016. During its
inception in 1995, Aditya Birla Group, Tata Group and AT&T Wireless each held one-third equity
in the company. Following AT&T Wireless' merger with Cingular Wireless in 2004, Cingular
decided to sell its 32.9% stake in Idea. This stake was bought by the remaining two stakeholders
equally. Tata forayed into the cellular market with its own subsidiary, Tata Indicom, a CDMA-
based mobile provider and in April 2006, Aditya Birla Group announced the acquisition of the
48.18% stake held by Tata Group at INR 40.51 a share amounting to INR 44.06 billion with 15%
of the stake acquired by Aditya Birla Nuvo and the remaining by Birla TMT holdings Private Ltd.
both AV Birla family owned companies. Malaysia based Axiata bought a 19.96% stake in the
company in 2009.In January, 2017, it was confirmed that Idea was in talks to merge with
Vodafone Group's Indian operation

3.2.1 Idea Prepaid (Charging system) network was outdated with limited functionality as per
current market demands and competition flexibility to give of-the-shelf marketing promotions.
Hence Idea decided to upgrade its complete network to the latest telecom infrastructure in the
market. Ericsson was the current infrastructure vendor for Idea, along with some small
application vendor. Hence, it was Ericsson responsibility to upgrade the complete network, with
latest Hardware, Softwares, Application and Functionality to support Idea requirements.

3.2.2 The objective of Project was to upgrade the prepaid charging system (CS) from Level 4 to
level 5 with following features.

Upgrade prepaid systems from CS4 to CS5.3.

Implement the features as per market and competition.
Minimum network outage.
Quality checkpoints to ensure efficient project delivery.
Project deadline were strict with delay penalty.
Ensure all systems are backward compatible for rollback.
Ensure upgraded systems were dimensioned to cater subscriber growth for next 5 years.

3.2.3 Technically I gained very good exposure of the Network. I worked in different aspects of
the project design and implementation. My major role was to lead the business configuration
in 2 major nodes of the charging system. I did not find much difficulty as I regularly updated
myself with the current and upcoming technologies. I also keep reading the Ericsson manuals
to enhance my knowledge.

3.2.4 The project team consists of all Telecommunication technical and Professional staff,
consisted of following Members.
 Project Manager - Responsible for complete Upgrade Project delivery
Quality Manager Responsible to ensure project delivery quality and incidence free
delivery
Test Team Responsible for performing acceptance with customer.
Team Lead Responsible for managing team activities and customer coordination
Solution Architect Responsible for complete solution design and analysis
Solution Architect Responsible for complete solution design and analysis
Subject Matter Expert - Responsible for low level design assistance to Solution Architect
Solution Integrator: Responsible for integration part.
Operation Team Responsible for node configuration and node operation

I was the engineer in Operation team responsible for node configurations

3.2.5 I coordinated with the client and internal stake holders to understand their requirement
and configure the new offers as per required specifications.

3.3 Personal Engineering Activity

3.3.1 In this section of the career episode, I shall describe my experience as an engineer
responsible for accomplishing the business configuration for two major nodes AIR
(Account and Information Refill) and SDP (Service Data Point) of the charging system
and end to end testing.

3.3.2 The Proposed CS 5.3 Architecture for Idea.

Core Network defines MSC, MSS which are responsible for Voice Calls and SMS calls.
Packet Core Network covers PGW, GGNS, SGSN and ISP, which are responsible for data
sessions. Ericsson Charging System has following nodes VS (Voucher Server),
MINSAT/ECMS (Provisioning node, SDP (Subscriber database), AIR (Refill Logic), VXML-
IVR (IVR), CCN (Protocol converters from CAP, Gy to Ericsson Proprietary CIP/IP)

SDP (Service Data Point) - The SDP holds the rating engine and the account
database. It calculates the cost of the service and provides the decisions to the
requests sent by the session controllers (CCN). Handles de offline rating and
controls the account status and life-cycle. SDP also receives the refills from AIR
and stores and handles the tariffs and service definitions
 AIR (Account Information and Refill) handles refill and account balance
updates. It interacts with the SDP to retrieve information or request account
updates. Refill can be performed using the IVR, USSD or being operator
initiated either through single request or batch jobs. It provides the interface
UCIP that can be used for integration of external
AF (Account Finder) enables usage of multiple SDP by providing SDP identity
for a certain account. It is co-located on the AIR servers and interrogated by the
AIR, CCN and MINSAT for look-up of the SDP identity
VS (Voucher Server) - The voucher database is held in the VS. Encryption of
voucher data and files ensures security. VS also provide the functions needed
for voucher generation, administration and voucher refill
CCN (Charging Control Node) handles control of circuit switched calls via CS1+,
CAPv2 and Diameter. It also handles control of packet switched calls using
Diameter interfaces for online rating

3.3.3 My major role in the project was to lead business configuration team. As this was an
upgrade project from the existing level to next level; my first task was to understand
the existing nodes configurations.

3.3.4 After initial meetings and discussions with the client to understand the existing
configurations, I did a detailed study and analyzed carefully to meet the customer
requirements. To summarize, my responsibilities were as follows

Customer Conference and meetings were setup where all requirements were
noted and agreed.
Configurations report was prepared and shared to customer, where I provided
input for AIR and SDP.
Configurations report was prepared and shared to customer, where I provided
input for AIR and SDP
Discussions were done on alternate configurations and methods, internally and
final solution was prepared.
Action points and replies were generally covered in emails, and minutes of
meeting (MOM).
Final configurations were drafted and submitted to customer for approval.
Once agreed, specific requirements were captured from customer and
documented.

3.3.5 After capturing the requirements the next step was to do business configurations in
AIR and SDP. My responsibilities were as follows
 I had to document all existing tariff plans so these are to be configured as per
new Level features.
All CS4 existing Product customizations are uplifted to CS5 Software release
baseline.
The cleaning of the Business configuration such as Service class, service fee
deduction, tariff etc. which are not used and not required for the history
purpose. For e.g.; bulkier tariff configurations led to upgrade failures in other
customer instances. (Tariff size less than 100mb is recommended).
Internal testing of new Configurations.
The nodes backup is done before the day of upgrade.
Ensure all necessary scheduled Jobs have been executed properly prior to the
upgrade.

3.3.6 After configuration, I had to coordinate with different teams on various integration
parameters, protocol specifications (XML, MAP, and ISUP) to complete all end to end
testing for the existing and new features.

I had to supervise all AIR and SDP Upgrade and Business configurations.
I designed all tests case for recharge and tariff testing.
Finally, I had to provide daily report to customer about activities status and
future activities.

3.3.7 Once all configurations were done and made live on test bed, I had to prepare
internal test procedures and desired results. I commenced internal tests. I
performed demonstration of test cases with operations team, who were responsible
for customer acceptance. Following tasks were part of testing.
I was responsible to identify analyses and resolve all charging issues. I would
refer to Ericsson knowledge repository for issue reference and to upload any
new issues resolution process.
In case, I observed software or system bugs, I had to raise Trouble request
(TR) to product design unit (PDU).
Once systems passed internal tests, all tests were documented and loaded in
project space. After Project Manager Approval, they were submitted to
customer for approval.
 As a part of operation team I also tested all the test case with customer. Any
variation or failure, I had to rectify or justify. After all tests were passed,
acceptance sign-off was done.

3.3.8 After successful deployment of the Test Bed, Live implementation started. The same
set of procedures was followed for the smooth roll-out. Cutover preparations
included health check of all systems, uploading all migration scripts, and node
configuration and creating responsibility matrix.

On migration night, traffic was stopped on systems by respective teams. I

start taking the dump for SDP and AIR and after competition dump was
transferred to destination nodes.
After, taking the approval from RA and Project team new configuration for
AIR and SDP are activated on new applications and only few set of subscribers
are migrated, after analyzing the accounts for a specific period of time and
ensuring that everything is working fine bulk migration is performed.
I along with rest of team monitored the systems for 72 hrs. Every incident was
scrutinized; resolved and incident report was prepared. After 72hrs and RA
report for the successful implementation old business configurations was
deleted and project was successfully complete.

3.3.9 With the completion of project I gathered all the necessary information which
helped me in gaining knowledge on system and overall project. Every time I
highlighted all the issues we faced and the solution implemented for improvement
during the project to the higher management. I prepared a presentation
highlighting all the key points and shared with higher management and operation
team. After systems were completely stable, I presented clients on various
operational aspects.

Customers were demonstrated with some additional features, which they

can purchase from Ericsson to further advance their systems. All these were
targeted to create new sales opportunities for Ericsson.
Customer operations were demonstrated with automation scripts and tools,
which would reduce work efforts. These tools were all locally developed as
part of continuous improvement process and also to add sales for Ericsson.
 Finally, feedback process was initiated, where customer interfaces rated
each individual resource efforts based on different parameters. This would
help each resource to improve.

3.4 Summary
The duties and task assigned to me in this project was a good challenge for my career. My
learning from this project was excellent from engineering, management and design point of
view. It gave me the opportunity to enrich my personal and career growth. Taking the best
advantage of my engineering skills I gave the best solution for the problems faced. I enhanced
my reputation within my company and gained confidence.

3.5. Problems faced

3.5.1 There were many technical challenges faced by me in this project. This was the one of
the first upgrade projects in my carrier. During testing; it is observed that CAPv3 CDR
naming convention post CCN ICP14-01 upgrade has been changed. This change requires
changes either at CCN or at IT to process these CDRs. So we passed these CDRs through
EMM. EMM changes the CDR Filename as per requirement and then sending it towards
Customer mediation system. This workaround solution was done till the final solution is
available.

3.5.2 During the AIR and SDP configuration the size of rating engine was increased due to old
and new level configuration in the same system. To reduce the size to the
recommended level < 100Mb all unwanted configuration deletion is done.

3.5.3 Tariff configuration is the most critical task in the project; a small mistake can result in
the huge revenue loss. So 1st and 2nd level validation is done and in many cases same
was rectified in the testing phase itself.
CHAPTER 4. SUMMARY STATEMENT OF COMPETENCIES

Paragraph in the
A brief summary of how you have career episode(s)
Competency Element
applied the element where the element is
addressed
PE1 KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL BASE
I had strong knowledge of Career Episode 1
Mathematics and Engineering, 1.3.1, 1.3.5, 1.3.9,
PE1.1 Comprehensive, theory- I had successfully completed the 1.5.1
based understanding of the projects assigned to me by my
underpinning natural and superiors. I initiated it, processed Career Episode 2
physical sciences and the it and accomplish it within the 2.3.2, 2.3.3, 2.3.10,
engineering fundamentals given timeline. I solved problems 2.3.11, 2.3.14, 2.3.15,
applicable to the engineering and managed difficult situations. 2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.5.3
discipline
Career Episode 3
3.3.4, 3.3.8, 3.3.9
My mathematical and engineering Career Episode 1
design skills are very well 1.3.2, 1.3.4, 1.3.5
reflected in my career episodes. I
gathered Customer requirements Career Episode 2
and created reports. Design 2.2.3, 2.3.2, 2.3.3,
PE1.2 Conceptual understanding
solutions based on customer 2.3.7, 2.3.8, 2.3.9,
of the mathematics, numerical
requirement. I used my skills to 2.3.10, 2.3.11, 2.3.14,
analysis, statistics and computer
identify the technical issues and 2.3.15
and information sciences which
ability to find out reliable solution
underpin the engineering
through formulation and Career Episode 3
discipline
calculations. I interacted with 3.3.4, 3.3.5, 3.3.8,
different disciplines to get viable 3.5.1
solution required for best solution
design.

I used my knowledge in designing Career Episode 1

the business plans for SMS, Voice 1.3.3, 1.3.4, 1.3.5
PE1.3 In-depth understanding of and Data for prepaid system. I
specialist bodies of knowledge have understanding of different Career Episode 2
within the engineering discipline phases of design and planning of 2.2.3, 2.3.2, 2.3.3,
telecommunication engineering, 2.3.9, 2.3.13, 2.5.1,
I often applied my engineering 2.5.3
 skill to solve the issues, Career Episode 3
capabilities of debugging and 3.3.5, 3.3.7, 3.5.1
provide suitable remedy.
PE1.4 Discernment of knowledge I always kept abreast of new Career Episode 1
development and research developments and technologies 1.3.1,
directions within the engineering pertaining to my discipline
discipline especially those that related to Career Episode 2
my current project objectives 2.2.3, 2.3.2, 2.3.4,
2.3.8

Career Episode 3
3.2.3
Regularly participated in project Career Episode 1
strategy meetings to understand 1.2.3, 1.2.5, 1.3.1,
various aspects like associated 1.3.5, 1.5.1
systems and their impacts,
understand legal binding and Career Episode 2
intimation process, Penalty 2.3.2, 2.3.11
aspects as per Customer-Vendor
clauses, in case of inconclusive Career Episode 3
quality of service. 3.2.2, 3.3.3, 3.3.4,
Performed resource management 3.3.9
to ensure competent resources
PE1.5 Knowledge of contextual
are available for each operation.
factors impacting the
Handled customer queries to
engineering discipline
clarify any doubts related to any
activity performed and its nature
of impact. Performed activity only
after customer consent and
ensured proper acceptance of
node, after activity and ensured
customer satisfaction on overall
project delivery. For this customer
feedback was taken, for each
individual team member.

Understood objectives of project Career Episode 1

clearly. Identified my scope and 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.4,
PE1.6 Understanding of the
responsibilities I followed defined 1.3.5, 1.3.9
scope, principles, norms,
process, templates and Telecom
accountabilities and bounds of
authoritys guidelines to capture Career Episode 2
contemporary engineering
customer requirements, design 2.2.3, 2.3.2, 2.3.10,
practice in the specific discipline
solution using available tools. I 2.3.11, 2.3.14, 2.3.15
always ensured the systematic
 approach when creating designs Career Episode 3
for my projects. 3.2.5, 3.3.3, 3.3.4,
3.3.5, 3.3.7, 3.3.8
PE2 ENGINEERING APPLICATION ABILITY
I have the capabilities of handling Career Episode 1
broad range technical and non- 1.3.3, 1.3.4, 1.3.5,
technical problems, interaction 1.5.1
with engineers form all disciplines
and incorporated considerations Career Episode 2
PE2.1 Application of established
required for smooth and better 2.3.3, 2.3.4, 2.3.10,
engineering methods to complex
engineering projects. I gave many 2.3.11, 2.3.14, 2.3.15,
engineering problem solving
methods/procedures for issues 2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.5.3
which are still in used. I produced
great deal of improvement in Career Episode 3
performance of networks. 3.3.4, 3.3.6, 3.3.7,
3.3.9, 3.5.1, 3.5.2
I have sound engineering
knowledge and capable in using Career Episode 1
different engineering tools. I am 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.3,
skilled in preventing, detecting 1.3.4, 1.3.5, 1.5.1
and repairing problems in the
processes and operations in my Career Episode 2
PE2.2 Fluent application of projects. 2.2.3, 2.3.2, 2.3.3,
engineering techniques, tools 2.3.4, 2.3.5, 2.3.10,
and resources 2.3.11, 2.3.12, 2.3.14,
2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.5.3

Career Episode 3
3.2.3, 3.3.5, 3.3.8,
3.5.1, 3.5.2, 3.5.3

I have knowledge of conducting Career Episode 1

and managing telecommunication 1.3.2, 1.3.5,
projects and understand the
abilities of work force. I always Career Episode 2
conformed to clients 2.2.3, 2.3.3, 2.3.4,
PE2.3 Application of systematic
requirements, other stakeholders 2.3.5, 2.3.6, 2.3.10,
engineering synthesis and design
specifications and applicable 2.3.11, 2.3.14, 2.3.15
processes
regulations for each project. I
realize the importance of design Career Episode 3
and plan of the project within 3.3.5, 3.3.6, 3.3.7,
engineering limit I practiced and 3.3.8, 3.3.9
tested them during design and
 implementation. I understand the
importance of cost and time and
consider them while
implementation of engineering
project to avoid any extra cost or
loss of revenue.

In my professional tenure, I Career Episode 1

conducted and managed Telecom 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.3,
project and contributed efficiently 1.3.4, 1.3.5
for the successful completion and
also worked as a team member on Career Episode 2
PE2.4 Application of systematic several projects effectively. I 2.2.3, 2.3.2, 2.3.3,
approaches to the conduct and understand the significance of 2.3.4, 2.3.7, 2.3.8,
management of engineering managerial decisions and practice 2.3.9, 2.3.10, 2.3.11,
projects them effectively, having good 2.3.12, 2.3.13, 2.3.14
skills of writing reports and
communicated the issues to the Career Episode 3
technical and lay readers easily 3.2.3, 3.3.3, 3.3.5,
3.3.6, 3.3.7, 3.3.8,
3.3.9
PE3 PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
I am well versed with our Code of Career Episode 1
Business Ethics. I am operating 1.3.2
with a strong sense of integrity in
maintaining trust and credibility Career Episode 2
with our customers, partners, 2.3.1
PE3.1 Ethical conduct and
employees, and shareholders and
professional accountability
other. I ensure compliance at all Career Episode 3
times with applicable laws, rules 3.3.2
and regulations

I have good competency level in Career Episode 1

English language making effective 1.3.10
oral and written presentations.
Reports and procedures were Career Episode 2
PE3.2 Effective oral and written thoroughly documented and 2.2.3, 2.3.11, 2.3.15
communications in professional reviewed. Customers were
and lay domains presented with presentations, and Career Episode 3
issues, queries (technical or non- 3.3.4, 3.3.5, 3.3.9
technical) were handled & replied.
Daily, weekly and monthly
progress reports were prepared
 to update the project statues.
Project related communication
were done via mails and
meetings, where stakeholders
were informed on current
progress, blocking points, support
required, completed tasks,
planned tasks, project plans and
information sharing.

I have shown novel approaches to Career Episode 1

solve the problems encountered 1.3.3, 1.3.5, 1.5
in my projects. As a proactive
approach, any issues found in Career Episode 2
PE3.3 Creative innovative and configuration procedures or were 2.3.14, 2.3.15, 2.5.1,
proactive demeanor uploaded on knowledgebase, so 2.5.2, 2.5.3
that different projects were aware
of the issues. Accordingly, Career Episode 3
corrections could be done. 3.3.5, 3.3.8, 3.5.2,
3.5.3
I have the ability to locate, Career Episode 1
maintain, utilize and document 1.2.5
information. During projects,
whenever I faced any technical Career Episode 2
issue, I accessed knowledge base 2.3.4, 2.3.10, 2.3.14
to lookout for similar symptoms
PE3.4 Professional use and and scenario. Additionally, I would Career Episode 3
management of information raise query in internal forums, for 3.3.3, 3.3.4, 3.3.6,
recommendation. As I would 3.3.7, 3.3.9
receive multiple responses, I
would assess the responses based
on their ratings and comments by
other users.

I have a good professional image Career Episode 1

in my project fellows' sight and I 1.2.5
keep good professional relations
with team, customer and stake Career Episode 2
PE3.5 Orderly management of holders involved in executing the 2.2.3, 2.3.2, 2.3.10,
self, and professional conduct project. I tackled issues that were 2.3.11, 2.3.14, 2.3.15,
new and challenging for me with 2.4
responsibility.
Career Episode 3
3.2.3, 3.3.6, 3.3.7,
 3.3.8, 3.5.1, 3.5.3

My approach is always positive Career Episode 1

toward team work and I have 1.3.3, 1.3.4, 1.3.5,
strong coordination skills; 1.3.10
effectively participate in
discussions with team members Career Episode 2
and external stake-holders. I am 2.2.3, 2.3.11, 2.3.15
capable enough to present my
views clearly and precisely. I Career Episode 3
handled and presented telecom 3.3.3, 3.3.4, 3.3.6,
problems effectively. I was 3.3.7, 3.3.9
responsible for leading the team
and provide the best output. I am
aware of the importance and
interacted with other engineering
PE3.6 Effective team
disciplines which were necessary
membership and team
for the smooth execution of the
leadership
project. I exchange ideas and
appreciated positive changes in
my design. As a leader in many
projects I was responsible for
assigning tasks to team, follow up
on status, and assist teams with
technical support. I was
responsible to support teams to
achieve timelines and objectives
efficiently. I constructively took
feedbacks on ways of working and
improved them, wherever
possible
CHAPTER 5. CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Presently, I am still working as a Sr. Engineer with Ericsson India a world leader in the rapidly
changing environment of communications technology. For the development of the employees,
Ericsson Learning and certification solution supports me to optimize my performance and to fulfill my
competence development plans. I attended many training sessions and pass ETCP exams (Ericsson
technical certification program) to learn new technologies and enhance my skill set. As the
technology is emerging very fast, every engineer has to keep in touch with the latest market
trends and technology. I have undertaken around many technical trainings related to my
Engineering field. These training assisted me in developing the instinctive capabilities for deep
understanding of the upcoming interactive technologies.

5.1. Training courses attended

Training Course Name Product Technical Field

Telecom Basic Ericsson Telecommunication

Charging System (CS) 5.3 Overview Ericsson Intelligent Network

Mobile Broadband Charging (MBC) 2.3 Rating
Ericsson Intelligent Network
Management
Mobile Transport E2E Solutions Overview Ericsson Telecommunication

Charging and Billing in One( CBiO ) Overview Ericsson Telecom Intelligent Network

Programming Basics Ericsson Programming Basics

Data Privacy Ericsson General Data privacy

Security Sally - Awareness Training Ericsson Intelligent Network

Ericsson IP Overview Ericsson Information Technology

IP Routing Overview Ericsson Information Technology

GSM Radio Access Network Overview Ericsson Telecommunication

WCDMA Radio Access Network Overview
Ericsson Telecommunication
(WBL)
IP Fundamentals Ericsson Information Technology

5.2. Certification Done

Course Name Product Technical Field

ITIL Foundation Axelos IT Service Management

Ericsson Certified in IP Technology Ericsson Internet Protocol

Ericsson Certified Associate CBiO ( Charging
Ericsson Intelligent Network
and Billing In One)