Price Plan Change/Laddering (FT-1014.013)
About this document
Scope
This document provides background information as well as a functional description of the FT-1014.013 Price Plan Change/Laddering basic feature. The described feature is supported from the release version 4.3.5 onwards.
Note
Price Plan Change is a basic feature and does not require a special license.
This feature is part of the Price Plan Behavior / Options functionality with number FN-1025.
Feature Availability
Feature Version | Available from | Summary of changes |
|---|---|---|
v1 | CMP Release 4.3.5 | Initial release |
v2 | CMP Release 5.3 | Prepaid Auto to a dedicated Price Plan & Renewal Queue |
Feature overview
Goals
The aim of the Price Plan Change feature is to introduce new Price Plan Change Rules for
moving from the Initial Price Plan,
Mid-Cycle Price Plan Changes,
End of Bill Cycle Price Plan Changes, and
SIMs in different SIM Billing Status, e.g. Suspended.
To introduce an on/off configuration for the Price Plan Change Rules and to enhance the current Price Plan Change notification to indicate success, failure, and point in time when the Price Plan Change will be executed.
Out of scope
Changes to allowed Price Plan Change business automation rules.
Changes between Network and Zone Price Plans.
Preconditions & Assumption
CMP allows any to any type of Price Plan change (including Individual to Pool and Prepaid to Postpaid) at any time (i.e. with immediate change).
As not all CSPs will require all Price Plan changes, each type of Price Plan Change is be configurable (enabled/disabled).
SIMs are Suspended either individually or when the Account is suspended. The Price Plan change behavior will be the same.
Mid-Cycle change of Price Plan Type (Individual ↔ Pool) when the SIM is Suspended
is only triggered via GUI or API (not Automation Rules), and
would normally be a permanent change, but this is not mandatory (ie. change of Base Rate Plan and Current Rate Plan).
End of Bill Cycle change of Price Plan Type (Individual ↔ Pool)
is only triggered via GUI or API (Automation Rules not allowed),
must be a permanent change (ie. change of Base Rate Plan and Current Rate Plan), and
will be set up in advance of the end of Bill Cycle, and hence be a "Pending Change" for some period before the end of the BC.
Pending Changes can be canceled via GUI and API.
An End of Bill Cycle change is only set up if an immediate (Mid-Cycle) change of Price Plan is NOT allowed.
CMP notification of Price Plan Change:
The notification will have an attribute to indicate immediate (Mid-Cycle) or End of Bill Cycle Price Plan Change is sufficient to meet this requirement.
Additional notifications for canceling Pending Changes and failed Price Plan Changes will be introduced.
Limitations
In CMP 4.3 due to the way Billing Manager operates, a change of SIM Price Plan Type of Individual to Pool or Pool to Individual requires the cessation of the current subscription and the creation of a new subscription of the new Price Plan Type. MRC charges for subscriptions are prorated for the part of the month they are active. This has no impact on changes at the End of the Billing Cycle and for Prorated Accounts.
For Mid-Cycle changes on Retrorated Accounts, there will be two MRC charges for the Bill Cycle:
the charge up to the Pool↔ Individual Price Plan Change, and
the charge to the end of the Bill Cycle.
Within the Pool or Individual parts of the month, normal retroactive rating is applied.
This is shown in the diagram below:
MRC Protation Example
Note:
In the scenario where the SIM is Suspended, the MRC is also suspended and is only charged when the SIM is active.
For Prepaid ↔ Postpaid changes the Postpaid MRC is also prorated for the time that the Postpaid Price Plan is assigned to the SIM.
Functionality of the feature
Definitions
Account Default Price Plan
Account Default Price Plan is defined for each Account. It is the Default Price Plan a SIM is assigned when the SIM is first provisioned into the Account (via PO Process).
Can be of type
Prepaid or Postpaid, and
Individual or Pool.
Once the SIM is provisioned this Default Price Plan becomes the SIM Base Price Plan and Active Price Plan.
The Account Default Price Plan can be changed at any time while the Account is Active. However, changing the Account Default Price Plan only impacts SIMs provisioned after the change - there is no impact on SIMs already provisioned to the Account.
Permanent and Temporary SIM Price Plan Changes
SIM Price Plan Changes can set to be Permanent or Temporary.
A Temporary change is only effective until the End of the Billing Cycle. This is described in the examples in the following subsections.
Temporary Price Plan Changes are only allowed between Postpaid Price Plans of the same type, i.e. Individual to Induvial or Pool to Pool (e.g. Static Pool to Flex Pool).
SIM Price Plan related Attributes
CMP will record the following attributes regarding the SIM Price Plan:
BasePricePlan - Price Plan ID
ActivePricePlan - Price Plan ID
Is InitialPricePlan - Boolean
Additionally, when a SIM Price Plan change is made, the change includes a Permanent/Temporary flag.
Base Price Plan
The Base Price Plan is the Permanent Price Plan assigned to the SIM and the Price Plan the SIM will move back to at the end of the Billing Cycle.
May be changed to another Price Plan via automation rule or manually.
Active Price Plan and Temporary Price Plans
SIM Price Plan can be temporarily changed until the next Billing Cycle.
Active Price Plan is the current Price Plan assigned to the SIM, which could be the Base Price Plan or a Temporary Price Plan, which is only valid until changed or until the end of the Billing Cycle.
Base and Temporary Price Plan - Example 1
CMP SIM Price Plan Data:
BASE Price Plan | ACTIVE Price Plan | Change type flag | |
|---|---|---|---|
Starting condition | Price Plan A | Price Plan A | |
Temp change to Price Plan B | T | ||
end of 1st SIM Price Plan change | Price Plan A | Price Plan B | |
Temp change to Price Plan D | T | ||
end of 2ndSIM Price Plan change | Price Plan A | Price Plan D | |
Temp change to Price Plan F | T | ||
end of 3rd SIM Price Plan change | Price Plan A | Price Plan F | |
End of Bill Cycle | Price Plan A | Price Plan F | |
Start of the new Bill Cycle | Price Plan A | Price Plan A |
Base and Temporary Price Plan - Example 2: Base Price Plan Change
CMP SIM Price Plan Data:
BASE Price Plan | ACTIVE Price Plan | Change type flag | |
|---|---|---|---|
Starting condition | Price Plan A | Price Plan A | |
Temp change to Price Plan B | T | ||
end of 1st SIM Price Plan change | Price Plan A | Price Plan B | |
Temp change to Price Plan D | T | ||
end of 2ndSIM Price Plan change | Price Plan A | Price Plan D | |
Permanent change to Price Plan E | P | ||
end of 3rd SIM Price Plan change | Price Plan E | Price Plan E | |
Temp change to Price Plan F | T | ||
end of 4th SIM Price Plan change | Price Plan E | Price Plan F | |
Temp change to Price Plan G | T | ||
end of 5th SIM Price Plan change | Price Plan E | Price Plan G | |
End of Bill Cycle | Price Plan E | Price Plan F | |
Start of the new Bill Cycle | Price Plan E | Price Plan E |
Initial Price Plan
The Initial Price Plan is the Price Plan, which is assigned to the SIM when the SIM is first assigned to an Account, ie. as part of the Purchase Order process.
The first Price Plan assigned to the SIM becomes
Base Price Plan,
Active Price Plan, and
Initial Price Plan = Y.
Any change of the Price Plan will result in the SIM no longer having the Initial Price Plan assigned.
Initial Price Plan Concept
CMP SIM Price Plan Data:
BASE Price Plan | is INITIAL Price Price? | ACTIVE Price Plan | Change type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SIM Assigned: Default Price Plan = Price Plan A | ||||
Starting condition | Price Plan A | Y | Price Plan A | |
Permanent change to Price Plan B | P | |||
end of 1st SIM Price Plan change | Price Plan B | N | Price Plan B |
Intial Price Plan Concept - Temporary Price Plan Changes
Note:
As stated before, if the SIM Price Plan changes to a Temporary Price Plan (e.g. through laddering) the Base Price Plan is no longer considered the Initial Price Plan, and after this time the normal Mid-Cycle Price Plan change rules apply.
BASE Price Plan | is INITIAL Price Price? | ACTIVE Price Plan | Change type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SIM Assigned: Default Price Plan = Price Plan A | ||||
Starting condition | Price Plan A | Y | Price Plan A | |
Temp change to Price Plan C | T | |||
end of 1st SIM Price Plan change | Price Plan A | N | Price Plan C | |
Temp change to Price Plan D | T | |||
Price Plan A | N | Price Plan D | ||
End of Bill Cycle | Price Plan A | N | Price Plan D | |
Start of new Bill Cycle | Price Plan A | N | Price Plan A |
Permanent and Temporary Price Plan Changes - Summary
Temporary and Permanent Price Plan Changes - SIM Attributes
Charging Recurring and Non Recurring Charges
Recurring Charges
Recurring Charges are charged on each Billing Cycle, hence the name, Monthly Recurring Charge (MRC).
MRC only applies to Postpaid Price Plans.
Monthly Recurring Charges are calculated based on the Account Rating Type (Retrorated or Prorated), and the Price Plan:
Retroactive Rating: The MRC of the active Price Plan at the end of the BC is used as the base of the charge for the whole Billing Cycle.
Proactive Rating: The MRC is calculated for each period that a Price Plan is active for the SIM (minimum granularity is 1 day).
In the Billing Cycle that the SIM is activated, the MRC is always prorated for the period from the point that the SIM is activated, even if the Account Rating is retroactive.
If a SIM is retired or moved onto a Prepaid Price Plan, the MRC is prorated in the BC that the retirement/change is made.
Non-Recurring/One Time Charges
One Time Charges (OTC) or Non-Recurring Charges (NRC) are charges triggered by an event.
OTC are never prorated and are charged the same regardless of the Account Rating Type (Retrorated or Prorated).
The charge is determined by the Price Plan that is active at the point of the event, eg. the SIM activation charge is determined from the Price Plan at the time of the SIM Activation Charge event.
Once the OTC has been raised, the charge does not change, even if the Price Plan changes in the Billing Cycle.
The charges may repeat each BC, only if the trigger event occurs each Billing Cycle, examples are given in the following table.
Example OTC/NRCs:
Charge | Trigger | Repeat? |
|---|---|---|
SIM Activation Fee | SIM Activation Charge Event - event trigger is determined by configuration:
| No |
Prepaid Fee | Prepaid Price Plan activation | Only with Auto-Renew set, on Price Plan expiry |
Network Access Charge | (First) Usage in a Bill Cycle | Yes - each time usage first occurs in a BC |
Principles of Moving between Pre- and Postpaid Price Plans
The two Price Plan Types, Prepaid, and Postpaid operate with different paradigms.
Prepaid Price Plans
are independent of Billing Cycles,
have pool/allowance and duration,
do not allow overage,
have no MRC, only the one-time activation charge, and
will expire at the end of the allowed duration or when the allowance is consumed.
Postpaid Price Plans
align with Billing Cycles,
can have included pool/allowance,
can have overage,
have no end date, and are retired once all SIMs are removed from the Price Plan.
Therefore changes between Pre- and Postpaid Price Plans are treated in the following way:
Postpaid → Prepaid:
The Postpaid Price Plan is considered as if the SIM was retired (ie. the MRC is prorated and the usage is charged against the Postpaid Price Plan up to the change).
The Prepaid Plan is charged on activation (or the SIM can join an existing Prepaid Pool).
No usage is moved between the two Price Plans.
Prepaid → Postpaid:
The Prepaid Plan is left, any unused allowance is lost unless the Prepaid Plan left is a pool with other SIMs assigned.
The new Postpaid Price Plan is treated as if the SIM has been activated mid-cycle (ie. the MRC is prorated).
No usage is moved between the two Price Plans.
Multiple moves between Pre- and Postpaid Price Plans in a Billing Cycle
If there are multiple Postpaid Price Plans used in a Bill Cycle, the MRCs are prorated for each part of the Billing Cycle that the SIM is on a Postpaid Price Plan, regardless of the Account Rating Type.
Note:
If the Postpaid Price Plan changes the Account Rating Type is followed (ie. retroactive rating charges the MRC on the last Postpaid Price Plan prior to changing to Prepaid).
If there are multiple Individual Prepaid Price Plans used, each one will trigger a new one time charge.
If there are multiple times the SIM is in the same Prepaid Static Pool Price Plan, and there are other SIMs in the Static Pool at all times the pool is not closed and usage is charged against the same pool. Therefore no Prepaid one-time charge will be raised.
Top Off Price Plans
Top Off Price Plans are defined at the Account Level and overage can be charged against the Top Off.
When a SIM Price Plan is changed, the Top Off Price Plan is not changed or impacted - usage charged against the Top Off remains on the Top Off.
SIM Moves between Accounts
A SIM can move from an Account to Sub-Account or Sub-Account to Account or between Sub-Accounts.
In each case, the SIM is treated as if it is
retired in the old Account/Sub-Account, and
newly provisioned in the new Account/Sub-Account.
Meaning that regardless of the Account Rating Type (Prorated or Retroactive Rating), MRC and Allowance are prorated for the period in each Account/Sub-Account. If the Account is retrorated, then the final/first Price Plan is used for the prorating, in the same way as if the SIM is retired/newly assigned via PO process.
Changing Price Plans
Price Plan Change Rules
Current Price Plan Change Rules restricts the Price Plan Changes as shown in the following diagram:
Mid-Cycle Rate Plan Change - Supported Transitions
New Allowed Price Plan Changes are shown in the following diagram:
Mid-Cycle Rate Plan Change - New Transitions
Price Plan Change Definitions
Customer Inventory
In Customer Inventory, any Price Plan change is allowed.
Mid-Cycle Price Plan Change
Mid-Cycle Price Plan Change is initiated and actioned at any point in the Billing Cycle, can be either Permanent or Temporary.
Mid-Cycle from Initial Price Plan Change
Mid-Cycle from Initial Price Plan Change is a change of Price Plan when the SIM InitialPricePlan flag is set to Y, ie. no other Price Plan changes have been made for that SIM yet. The change can be either Permanent or Temporary.
End of Billing Cycle Price Plan Change
End of Billing Cycle Price Plan Changes can be initiated at any time, however, the change is only allowed at the End of the Billing Cycle as Mid-Cycle Price Plan Change is not allowed.
Therefore the Price Plan change is scheduled for the End of the Billing Cycle.
Note that there is no requirement for scheduling End of Bill Cycle Price Plan Changes where the Mid-Cycle Price Plan Change is allowed.
If a Price Plan change is at the end of the Billing Cycle then the Price Plan change will be to the Base and Active Price Plan, ie. cannot be a Temporary, only a Permanent change.
SIM Suspended
Price Plan change when the SIM Billing Status is Suspended (and in no other SIM Billing Status).
Price Plan Change Restrictions
CMP will restrict Price Plan changes based on the following Price Plan types:
Price Plan Type Changes | Comment |
|---|---|
Pool - Pool | Allows/prevents basic Price Plan changes |
Individual - Individual | Allows/prevents basic Price Plan changes |
Pool - Individual | Any Pool to any Individual Price Plan |
Individual - Pool | Any Individual to Pool Price Plan |
Post Paid - Prepaid | Any Post-Paid to any Prepaid Price Plan |
Prepaid - Post Paid | Any Post-Paid to any Prepaid Price Plan |
Price Plan Change Defaults
CMP will be set up with a default set of Price Plan Changes that are allowed.
Note:
Price Plan cannot be changed for SIMs that are Retired.
Price Plan Type Changes | Mid-Cycle (SIM In-Testing or In-Billing) | Mid-Cycle - from Initial Price Plan (SIM In-Testing or In-Billing) | End of Billing Cycle (SIM In-Testing or In-Billing) | Mid-Cycle - SIM in Customer Inventory | Mid-Cycle - SIM Suspended |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pool - Pool | B | B | B | M | B |
Individual - Individual | B | B | B | M | B |
Pool - Individual | B | B | B | M | M |
Individual - Pool | B | B | B | M | M |
Post Paid - Prepaid | B | B | B | M | B |
Prepaid - Post Paid | B | B | B | M | B |
Options:
M - Manual via API or GUI
A - via Automation Rule
B - both Automation Rule and Manual
N - no available
Temporary and Permanent Price Plan Changes
CMP will support Temporary Price Plan Changes - that is changing the price plan until the end of the Bill Cycle - as defined below:
Mid Cycle (SIM In-Testing or In-Billing) | Mid cycle - from Initial Price Plan (SIM In-Testing or In-Billing) | End of Billing Cycle (SIM In-Testing or In-Billing) | Mid Cycle - SIM in Customer Inventory | Mid Cycle - SIM Suspended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Permanent and Temporary | Permanent and Temporary | Permanent only | Permanent only | Permanent only |
Temporary Price Plan changes are only allowed between
Price Plans of the same type (e.g. Prepaid Individual to Prepaid Individual), and
Postpaid Pool Price Plans (flex to static and static to flex).
This is shown in the diagram and table below.
Price Plan Change - Permanent and Temporary Changes
From Price Plan | To Price Plan | In Testing - Initial | In Billing - Initial | In Testing | In Billing | Customer Inventory | Suspended |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-INDIVIDUAL | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-INDIVIDUAL | P & T | P & T | P & T | P & T | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-INDIVIDUAL | PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-INDIVIDUAL | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-INDIVIDUAL | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-FLEX | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-INDIVIDUAL | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-STATIC | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-INDIVIDUAL | PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-STATIC | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-INDIVIDUAL | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-INDIVIDUAL | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-INDIVIDUAL | PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-INDIVIDUAL | P & T | P & T | P & T | P & T | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-INDIVIDUAL | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-FLEX | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-INDIVIDUAL | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-STATIC | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-INDIVIDUAL | PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-STATIC | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-FLEX | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-INDIVIDUAL | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-FLEX | PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-INDIVIDUAL | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-FLEX | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-FLEX | P & T | P & T | P & T | P & T | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-FLEX | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-STATIC | P & T | P & T | P & T | P & T | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-FLEX | PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-STATIC | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-STATIC | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-INDIVIDUAL | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-STATIC | PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-INDIVIDUAL | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-STATIC | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-FLEX | P & T | P & T | P & T | P & T | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-STATIC | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-STATIC | P & T | P & T | P & T | P & T | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-STATIC | PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-STATIC | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-STATIC | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-INDIVIDUAL | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-STATIC | PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-INDIVIDUAL | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-STATIC | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-FLEX | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-STATIC | PRICEPLAN-POSTPAID-STATIC | P | P | P | P | P | P |
PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-STATIC | PRICEPLAN-PREPAID-STATIC | P & T | P & T | P & T | P & T | P | P |
Where:
P = Permanent Price Plan Change only
P & T = Permanent and Temporary Price Plan Changes allowed
Subsequent Price Plan Changes within same BC
When a Price Plan Change is scheduled for the End of the Billing Cycle, and then a further Price Plan Change is requested:
If the Mid-Cycle or End of BC Price Plan Change request is a Permanent one, the Price Plan Change is rejected. Before a new Permanent Price Plan Change can be made, the scheduled Price Plan Change has to be canceled.
If the Mid-Cycle Price Plan Change request is Temporary, the Price Plan Change is allowed.
Multiple Price Plan Changes in a day
If the Price Plan changes multiple times in a day then the following mechanism is used to determine the charges:
MRC
The MRC that is active at the end of the day is considered the MRC for that day, regardless of the number of Price Plan Changes during the day. The minimum granularity of the charge is one day.
This is significant only for Prorated Accounts.
OTC
As stated above, the Price Plan that is active at the point the charging event is triggered is used to determine the charge amount.
For example:
Network Access Charge (NAC)
If the Price Plan that is active when the first network usage in a BC occurs has a €0 charge, then the NAC is €0 for that BC, even if the Price Plan subsequently changes to one with a €100 NAC.
Likewise, if the Price Plan at the time of the charging event is €150, and the Price Plan is changed to one with €1, the charge remains at €150.
Prepaid Charge
If an Individual Prepaid Price Plan is activated the prepaid charge is raised. If subsequently the Price Plan is changed to another Individual Prepaid Price Plan, and the Price Plan is activated, another, probably different, prepaid charge is raised, regardless of whether the first prepaid allowance has been used.
Usage
Usage is charged against the Price Plan which is active at the time of the data grant, or event (eg. SMS).
If the Account is retrorated, then in the case of a Price Plan change, the usage is moved to the new Price Plan and charged against the new Price Plan.
If the Account is prorated, then the granularity of the proration index is 1 day. If the Price Plan changes many times within one day, the proration index will be 1/(no days in BC), regardless of the time of day.
Prepaid Auto to a dedicated Price Plan & Renewal Queue
CMP supports Auto-Renew to a dedicated list of Price Plans, which enables the definition of a Prepaid Auto-Renew Queue, which the SIM has to follow whenever it is triggered for Auto-Renew. This allows Auto-Renew to a dedicated Price Plan in a Queue and not just Auto-Renew to the same Price Plan again.
The Prepaid Auto-Renew Queue is a simple list of Price Plans that can basically only contain Prepaid Base (non-Supplemental) Price Plans.
Note that the very last Price Plan of the Auto-Renew Queue can also be a Postpaid Price Plan.
When a SIM Card is assigned to a Prepaid Auto-Renew Queue, the SIM remains on its current Prepaid Price Plan and moves to the first Price Plan from the assigned queue when the next Auto-Renew event takes place. The Auto-Renew Queue, on the other hand, can be set to start immediately. In this case, the related SIM Card immediately changes its Price Plan to the first one from the assigned queue.