In a story that gets to the core of a successful digital transformation journey, one of the country’s leading telecommunications providers, Cell C, embarked on a journey to modernise its legacy business support systems (BSS).
BSS comprises the components a telecommunications service provider uses to run its business operations – in other words, to serve its customers. Together with operations support systems (OSS), BSS are crucial to ensure the telco can provide end-to-end services.
Cell C’s end-of-life BSS comprised complex integrations, outdated documentation, limited scalability and increasing operational costs. It was time for a change to future-proof Cell C, and so the Kabusha Project was born.
At its core, the Kabusha Project was an extensive modernisation drive towards a seamless integration of a next-generation BSS (ngBSS).
The goal of the Kabusha Project, which comprised various stakeholders with differing roles, was to provide a modern, cloud-based infrastructure capable of scaling operations to meet market demands and future growth.
VAS-X are specialists in providing BSS and Operational Support Systems (OSS) to the telecommunications industry – which includes Mobile Network Operators, Mobile Virtual Network Enablers, Mobile Virtual Network Operators, Internet Service Providers and Fixed Line Network Operators. Under Cell C’s lead, VAS-X played a key role during the 18-month transition to the next-generation BSS (ngBSS) platform.
“The project’s main goals were to modernise Cell C’s digital infrastructure by integrating and streamlining operations into a unified, scalable platform in order to improve customer experience with faster, more personalised services, reduced wait times and seamless service delivery,” says Craig Palmer, Chief Executive Officer at VAS-X. “This was designed to enable strategic growth through reduced operational costs, enhanced partner collaboration, and the ability to quickly introduce new services and products.”
Looking under the hood
The solution centred on the seamless routing of all third-party vendor traffic between the legacy and ngBSS/ OSS stack. This effort resulted in the redevelopment of over 300 web service calls and the development of 100 new micro-services to support a new system with robust functionalities, including auto-failover, redundancy, auto-scaling, and centralised logging. The existing integration was deployed over 48 servers, and VAS-X deployed a 5-node stack (XTREME) to handle the operational load, which processes over 800-million recharge transactions monthly.
Cell C successfully migrated 23-million prepaid subscribers to the new platform on August 25, 2024, marking a pivotal step in its journey towards becoming a modern, agile, and customer-focused telecommunications leader.
What it means for Customers
The Kabusha ngBSS transformation has elevated Cell C’s customer experience with faster, smarter, and seamless interactions across call centres, retail stores, and digital platforms.
AI-driven insights enable personalised services, while predictive analytics proactively resolve issues for enhanced reliability. New self-service portals and mobile apps empower customers with greater control, reducing reliance on support channels.
Improved efficiencies lower costs, making high-quality service more accessible. Robust security features strengthen data protection, and real-time access to customer data enables quicker support.
“With this transformation, we’ve built a future-ready, customer-centric platform that enhances service delivery and positions Cell C for continuous innovation,” says Marius Pienaar, Managing Executive: Enterprise Project Management Office at Cell C.
With a cloud-based, modular system, Cell C can rapidly launch new services, adapt to evolving needs, and stay ahead in innovation.
Due to the success of the Kabusha project, VAS-X received recognition for its contribution to the project, with awards presented by Cell C and Huawei, including Best Technical Team, Best Maintenance & Support Team, and Outstanding Contribution.
