How Sber and Bercut created the most innovative MVNO

In September 2018, a new mobile virtual network operator was introduced to the Russian telecom market ― SberMobile by Sberbank. Two years later it was recognized as the Most Innovative MVNO at the MVNO Awards 2020. The operator was created by the largest Russian bank in close cooperation with Bercut, an international provider of solutions for CSPs.

SberMobile, which is a part of the Sberbank ecosystem, became the first full MVNO project carried out by Bercut. It was the culmination of two years' cooperation which started in 2016 when Bercut won the tender for delivery of SMS and USSD centers for the bank. With that successful project already done, Sberbank invited Bercut as a provider of core systems when it came to launching its own full MVNO.

Tasks

launch of a new full MVNO

Solutions

Full means that a virtual operator rents just the radio network while having its own systems, including the billing system. Bercut delivered key BSS and IN solutions: IN@Voice billing and charging system, CareM subscriber self-service system, EXPERA IN platform, Unified Payment System that provides a full range of services ― from balance top-up to m-commerce. The Mobile Number Portability system ensured smooth mobile number porting.

In addition, within a short time Bercut developed powerful APIs to allow the client to carry out integrations with various systems and a constructor data plan for subscribers. Using the tool a subscriber can build one’s own data plan to meet their specific needs, e.g. to get the required number of minutes or GBs. It took just 4 months for Bercut to seamlessly integrate all systems.

Products

SMS and USSD centers

IN@Voice

billing and charging system

CareM

subscriber self-service system

EXPERA

IN platform

Unified Payment System

a full range of services from balance top-up to m-commerce

Mobile Number Portability

the system for transferring subscriber numbers from one operator to another

Result

SberMobile was launched in September 2018. As of 2019, more than 500 K customers of the bank used MVNO’s services and its revenue grew 3.5 times. By the middle of 2020, the subscriber base reached 1 M subscribers, the services became available in 68 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Cooperation was not affected by COVID-19-related restrictions: Bercut team keeps installing updates and new functionality remotely. Thanks to the support of its business partner, SberMobile manages to reduce time-to-market, expand its service offerings and drive digital innovation.

Two years after the launch, SberMobile won Most Innovative MVNO at the MVNO Awards, becoming Russia’s first winner of the prestigious international award.

It’s a reason to be proud of our work and expertise when a client, that is a part of the largest Russian bank, gets international recognition. We are pleased to share with SberMobile its victory and appreciate the trust placed in Bercut.

Andrey Bogdanov,

CEO Bercut