Policy and charging rules function (PCRF)—policy equipment for bandwidth and charging on multimedia networks—supports service data flow protection, policy enforcement and flow-based charging. The technology works by accessing and aggregating a number of information sources, such as subscriber databases and operational support systems (OSS), to determine accurate pricing models for mobile network operators (MNOs) looking to monetize multimedia services from data to video to voice. Gartner estimates the number of Internet-connected devices to grow to 26 billion units by 2020, resulting in a $1.9 trillion global economic value-add through sales into various end-markets. As networks and services continue to evolve—and network operators will be forced to gain better control over increasing data traffic—complete policy control will become paramount for MNOs looking to carve out their piece of this financial pie. That’s where PCRF comes into the picture. There are plenty of benefits of PCRF for mobile network operators. Let’s take a look at the chief benefits afforded by the technology:

• Reduced data delivery costs: With increased transparency into data policy and charging, operators will be able to more accurately charge services, thus reducing data delivery costs.
• Simplified network operations: PCRF enables operators to simplify their network by making functions and services more easily integrated and flexible.
• Increased revenue: With better control thanks to a centralized PCRF system, operators can more quickly deploy and deliver personalized services and/or service packages based on operator policies.

Elitecore offers unified policy control platform compliant to 3GPP specifications, which includes pre-integrated PCEF/DPI and PCRF functions to enable new monetization and personalization opportunities for operators and optimize customers’ service experience. The platform integrates with existing OSS and BSS system over standard interfaces. Furthermore, built-in deep packet inspection technology offers real-time network intelligence and is highly scalable to handle and process huge traffic in the data path. Boasting tight integration with NetVertex PCRF over a standard Gx interface, Elitecore’s solution enables dynamic and rapid decision making to ensure the fastest revenue generation possible. The Integrated Solution offers the following benefits to operators:

• Traffic shaping on specific application and protocols like non-time sensitive apps (P2P,FTP), QoS tagging and real-time decision making per subscriber
• Congestion control and mitigation per subscriber or type of subscriber
• Network traffic classification, which helps save time during peak operating times
• Smart routing for video optimization
• Cache server for premium subscribers based on application, user profile or user consumption
• Application/service centric data plans with differential charging and quality of service (QoS)
• Block the application/allow the application feature

Elitecore’s industry-leading PCRF solution enables unique use cases like parental control, website/URL blocking, turbo booster and volume on-demand, and is also location and device-specific.  To learn more about how you can benefit from a bleeding-edge PCRF solution, contact an Elitecore representative today.