MSISDN Assignment and Release (FT-1009.008)

About this document

Scope

This document provides background information as well as a functional description of the FT-1009.008 MSISDN Assignment and Release core feature.

The described feature is supported from the release version 4.0 onwards.

This feature is part of the SIM Lifecycle Management functionality with number FN-1009.

Feature Availability

Feature overview

Goals

The aim of the MSISDN Assignment and Release feature is to allow Service Providers to assign and release MSISDNs to SIM Cards in the most fitting manner for them.

Technical Prerequisites

This feature does not require any specific technical integrations for standard operation.

While no direct dependencies apply in typical scenarios, additional integrations or configurations may be necessary depending on the customer's infrastructure, business processes, or regulatory environment.

Functionality of the feature

MSISDN Assignment

CMP provides multiple MSISDN assignment options:

1. MSISDN is assigned and uploaded on SIM Upload

   • If the MSISDN is loaded into CMP with the ICCID and the IMSI in the upload file, it will never be removed from the SIM Card.

2. MSISDN is assigned to already loaded SIM Cards using an upload file.

3. MSISDN is assigned automatically by CMP at SIM Activation (i.e. when SIM moves to In Testing or In Billing)

   • This is determined by a flag in the SIM Product.

   • The MSISDN is set against the SIM Card once the SIM is in Resource Status ASSIGNED and moved out of Billing Status Customer Inventory.

4. No MSISDN is assigned

   • This is determined by a flag in the SIM Product.

   • MSISDN is never assigned.

The following diagram describes the available MSISDN assignment use cases.

MSISDN Release Behavior

The MSISDN Release Behavior is configurable per CMP instance to support the different requirements of the Service Providers. The configuration is done at installation and cannot be changed via GUI or API.

CMP provides the following MSISDN release options:

1. No change to the MSISDN assignment

   • The MSISDN assigned to the SIM Card is untouched when the SIM is retired.

2. Release MSISDN

   • The MSISDN assigned to the SIM Card is released and replaced (overwritten) by a dummy MSISDN when the SIM is retired.

   • Retired SIM Cards with a dummy MSISDN assigned are displayed without an MSISDN.

   • If a retired SIM is re-activated, it will not get the same MSISDN it has released but the next free dialable MSISDN.

MSISDN Pools

In most cases, SIM Cards ordered from a SIM Vendor will be pre-provisioned with an IMSI-MSISDN combination. By creating a pool of these MSISDNs, CMP handles them as a resource that can be reassigned to different IMSIs from the same Network Provider.

MSISDN Pools created in CMP can either be dedicated to a single Account or shared by all Accounts. In case the pool has a dedicated Account, MSISDNs in the respective pool are only available for use of the dedicated Account.

CMP provides capabilities to recycle MSISDNs once they have been unassigned from an IMSI. If recycling of the MSISDNs is enabled, MSISDNs that become unassigned from a SIM Card can be assigned again after the quarantine period is over. The quarantine period defines the number of days an MSISDN is blocked (i.e. not available for use) before it can be used again in a new assignment.

To populate the MSISDN Pools, MSISDNs are loaded into CMP either via MSISDN File Upload or by SIM File Upload which includes the MSISDNs. The minimum detail in an MSISDN upload file is one MSISDN per line.

Dummy MSISDN Pools

Dummy MSISDN Pools are a special kind of MSISDN Pools that consist of Dummy MSISDNs that are used for MSISDN release in the HLR.

Some HLRs cannot release an MSISDN and have no MSISDN assigned to an IMSI. Therefore, in order to release the MSISDN, the MSISDN is replaced with a Dummy MSISDN. Dummy MSISDNs cannot be recycled, once used for releasing a regular MSISDN it won’t be available for further MSISDN release operations.

The Dummy MSISDN Pool is a PUBLIC pool set up in Active status at installation.

Note that it cannot be created or modified via GUI.

Since only the Resource Manager Admin User is allowed to upload MSISDN to the Dummy MSISDN Pool, in case the number of available Dummy MSISDN falls below a given threshold CMP will notify the Admin User.