Ericsson has puffed its chest out with a cheeky little BSS win in Vietnam, as VNPT chooses the Swedes to upgrade its online charging system.

The company has been selected to modernize the VNPT charging and business support systems, replacing the legacy infrastructure, in a contract which also includes a backend IT peripheral system. Ericsson claims the new system will allow for easier integration of new products and offers on both the post-paid and pre-paid side of things

“We continuously introduce new and advanced technology in VNPT’s network and the Ericsson Charging System will reduce the overall service management and service delivery costs,” said Denis Brunetti, Head of Ericsson Vietnam and Myanmar. “It will also enable VNPT to increase subscriber satisfaction and to capitalize on new business opportunities.”

“Ericsson’s modernization of our charging system gives us the agility needed to meet the changing needs of our subscribers who expect greater control, personalization and flexibility,” said Nguyen Nam Long, General Manager, VNPT Network. “It also helps us prepare for the introduction of 4G and makes it easier to further develop our service offering.”

Although it seems like a simple upgrade, it does demonstrate to us that we shouldn’t be getting too carried away with the glorious promises of tomorrow. The new system will allow subscribers to request and update account information in real-time and automatically get notifications on costs, balances, and bonuses. This might seem like an old idea, but it just shows there are many operators around the world who do not fall into the early adopter category.

The emphasis on 4G should also not be underplayed. The majority of announcements which are taking place currently are focused on 5G, but 4G is still a massive market which should not be forgotten about. Almost every quarterly update includes figures on how many subscriptions have upgraded to 4G demonstrating that we aren’t quite as far ahead as we think we are.

5G is exciting to talk about, and a massive step forward towards the connected economy, but let’s not forget about its predecessor, we haven’t nailed that one just yet.