Internet service providers (ISP) or access providers (IAP) may become full range telephony companies and benefit form deploying PortaSwitch as a single software platform that unifies billing and provisioning for both voice (e.g. local and international calls) and traditional ISP services, for instance:

• Dial-up access
• Broadband Internet (DSL, ADSL, cable) access subscriptions
• Prepaid WiFi access
• Double-play and triple-play

The most typical broadband package types ISP offer their clients include:

1. Fixed bandwidth (download and/or upload) and unlimited data transfer, for a fixed monthly fee.
2. Fixed bandwidth (download and/or upload) and a limited total data transfer amount, for a fixed monthly fee.
3. A pay-as-you-go plan, where the customer is charged based on the amount of data transferred (per kilobyte, megabyte or gigabyte).

For more technical and/or pricing information about PortaOne billing solutions for ISP please contact our sales team.

PortaSwitch allows ISP to manage the provisioning of Internet access services and performs the session authorization and, when the connection is terminated, deducts the cost from the customer’s balance according to the session time and the specified rate.

For example, the Internet access solution with PortaSwitch enables ISP to:

• charge data transfers using tariffs
• implement packages with a fixed monthly fee using subscriptions assigned to products
• limit bandwidth for a product and/or an account
• limit data transfers using discount plans
• assign a static IP to an account
• restrict the number of simultaneous Internet sessions with the same Account ID.

Controlling Bandwidth

ISP can control the amount of bandwidth provided to a customer:

• PortaBilling can supply specific values for the upload and download speed during authorization. The same bandwidth limit will be used for the entire duration of the session.
• Alternatively, PortaBilling can return the name of a policy to the NAS, and bandwidth allocation will be performed in the NAS based on the definition for that policy. ISP can use advanced options in the policy definition, e.g. providing different limits during the day and at night.

Prepaid WiFi Service

ISP can implement prepaid WiFi access while debiting individual user accounts in real time. These services will require PortaSwitch working in conjunction with Mikrotik RouterBoard 532 with RouterOS 2.9.

Data Transfer Quotas

ISP can define combinations of data transfer thresholds, along with the applicable discounts and also have the ability to adjust the service itself once a threshold is reached

For example, when the customer exceeds 5GB his download speed will be severely reduced (but he can still use the web, email and the like). If he continues to use the service in an abusive manner, and so exceeds 6GB, the service will be automatically blocked.

Service Shutdown

With PortaBilling, ISP can initiate the disconnection of a session in progress on NAS; for instance, if it is determined that the customer has exceeded the allowed data transfer limit, or if the customer has been suspended due to non-payment.

Real Time Rating & Data Access

Since Internet access is an “always-on” service, billing is typically done in real time; thus many keep-alive requests may be combined into a single xDR. The ISP administrator can access the detailed and summarized information on the charges applied through the PortaSwitch web interface.

If you would like to read more about PortaSwitch and its ISP related features, please download the most recent PortaBilling Administrator Guide and PortaBilling Handbook: Converged Services from the Documentation page.