C Spire taps Amdocs for 5G wireless policy and charging

As it gears up to roll out next-generation communications services, US privately owned communications company C Spire has selected Amdocs Openet microservices-based policy and charging controls to support new 4G and 5G network services to residential and commercial customers.

The Mississippi-based diversified telecoms and technology services company, which claims to be the largest privately owned mobile services firm and the sixth largest in the US industry, believes it can deliver optimum experiences in wireless, fibre, internet and business IT technology such as internet, VoIP, cloud and managed services.

The company began rolling out its 5G service in October 2020 at a variety of spectrums. The roll-out is part of the firm’s broader efforts to not only bring consumers and businesses next-generation 5G benefits now and in the future, but during the transition to 5G across its network, C Spire has committed to continuing to use improvements and enhancements from its current 4G LTE Advanced technology to ensure customers have the best network experience designed for their needs and their location.

In fact, 5G implementation is part of the company’s programme of recent network enhancements valued at over $200m, such as the deployment of additional Band 41 carriers with carrier aggregation, increased cell site antenna capacity using advanced features such as 12-layer MIMO, 256 QAM modulation for better spectral efficiency, network-wide optimisation for balanced data delivery and extensive coverage of 4G LTE Advanced, also announced in 2020.

“We are deploying 5G at a variety of spectrums – so many customers will have a faster experience on a 5G network, while others may still see the best performance on our 4G LTE deployments,” said Brian Caraway, general manager of C Spire’s wireless division. “5G is a new technology that will improve with time, but regardless of where you live, C Spire is dedicated to providing the best network experience for the most customers possible.”

To make good on its plans, C Spire has deployed the Amdocs Openet policy and charging technology, which the provider of software and services to media and communications companies says will empower the telco. It is confident that Amdocs Openet provides a foundation that will enable C Spire to launch quickly next-generation 5G services to consumers and businesses and explore new monetisation opportunities with new business models and use cases.

As part of this implementation, C Spire will use the latest version of Amdocs Openet Policy Controller and Evolved Charging Suite and as a result, says Amdocs, will gain a set of policy blueprints to meet specific customer use cases, as well as the flexibility to develop new monetisation models for 5G networks.

“We are excited to bring our residential and commercial customers the benefits of new 5G wireless network technology with fast speeds, better service and an improved experience where they need it the most,” said Charles Watson, senior vice-president, network operations at C Spire. “With the Amdocs Openet policy and charging solution, we are well poised to offer, with greater flexibility, the most innovative 5G customer experience now and in the future.”