Case study
Unified OSS/BSS and SDN-enabled Broadband Architecture Migration for PON ISP
Plexteq rebuilt the operations core of a Polish fibre operator. Internet and PON management modules have been rewritten from the ground up. It then unified the subscriber portal, staff tools, VoIP and IPTV/OTT on one billing core, so every service now shares one subscriber record, one invoice and one API.
Project Highlights
Industry
Telecommunications, Internet Service Providers
Market
Poland / EU
Expertise
OSS/BSS, PON Management, Telecom Billing, VoIP, IPTV/OTT Integration
Cooperation
2024 – 2025
Technologies
Perl, MySQL, FreeRADIUS, PPPoE, IPoE/DHCP, NetFlow, SNMP, OMCI, TR-069, Asterisk, CrocOTT, REST API, Linux
Business Challenge
Our client is a fiber-to-the-home operator in Poland. It delivers internet over GPON/EPON together with VoIP telephony and IPTV/OTT. As the subscriber base grew, the in-house OSS that ran its access network became the main brake on growth.
The custom Internet and PON management modules were built for a smaller network. Cascading a second-stage splitter in the field, for example, a 1:8 behind a 1:4, meant engineers had to hand-edit port, splitter, and ONU records. A new speed tier meant a developer had to change hardcoded DBA, T-CONT, and GEM port logic and redeploy the system. Adding an OLT from a new vendor meant writing its ONU provisioning integration almost from scratch. Field teams and the database regularly disagreed about the real topology. Introducing cheaper hardware cost more in engineering effort than it saved.
The subscriber portal, staff tools, VoIP, and IPTV/OTT were provisioned and billed separately, so one household meant three accounts. Polish regulation added hard deadlines. B2B invoicing had to be ready for the national KSeF e-invoicing system before it became mandatory in 2026, and every sale still had to be reported in JPK_VAT files. Subscribers also expected to pay by BLIK, Przelewy24 or bank transfer to an individual account number, with every payment reconciled automatically.
Plexteq was engaged to modernize the OSS/BSS: move the access network to an SDN-enabled Broadband architecture, rewrite the Internet and PON management modules, and unify the subscriber portal, staff tools, VoIP and IPTV/OTT on a single billing core. Everything had to go live on the existing network without a disruptive cut-over for paying subscribers.
Key Challenges
#1. Rigid PON Inventory Model
The custom system struggled to flexibly model the deep physical and logical hierarchy of a PON network - spanning from the OLT chassis and line cards down to PON ports, optical splitters, fiber strands, and ONTs/ONUs. Because of this limitation, whenever splitters were cascaded or reconfigured in the field, the database quickly fell out of sync with the physical network.
#2. Hardcoded Bandwidth Profiles
DBA (Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation) profiles, traffic containers (T-CONTs), and GEM ports were wired into custom code. Each new service tier required a developer and risked breaking existing tiers.
#3. OMCI Fragmentation Across Vendors
ONU management over OMCI (ONU Management and Control Interface) differs subtly between vendors such as Huawei, Nokia, and Calix. Without a vendor-agnostic abstraction layer, every new, cost-effective device meant heavy custom work and locked the operator into existing suppliers.
#4. Fragmented Services and Billing
Billing, support, and NOC teams juggled several logins, and customers had no single view of their services, balances, and invoices.
Solution Delivered
Plexteq's dedicated team owned the full lifecycle of the platform: architecture, development, migration, releases and ongoing support.
Every action, from a portal top-up to an ONU registration or a TV package change, now runs through the same subscriber record. Billing and provisioning can no longer drift apart.
↳ SDN-Enabled Broadband Access
Plexteq's team drove the migration from box-by-box configuration to an SDN-Enabled Broadband Access (SEBA) architecture. A central SDN controller holds the access-network state and programs the OLTs and BNG/NAS via open interfaces. The OSS/BSS drives the controller through northbound APIs.
Subscriber activation, tier changes and suspensions are pushed from one place instead of scripted device by device. The control plane, not individual boxes, is the source of truth and keeps the inventory, bandwidth profiles and live network in step.
↳ Flexible PON Inventory Model
Plexteq team replaced the flat legacy model with a hierarchy from OLT chassis to line card, PON port, cascaded splitters, fiber strands and ONT/ONU. The inventory links to the fibre plant map, so changes made in the field are reflected in the database.
↳ Profile-Driven Bandwidth Management
DBA profiles, T-CONTs and GEM ports became configurable templates attached to each service tier. Launching a new tier is a configuration change, not a code release; existing tiers remain untouched.
↳ Vendor-Agnostic ONU Management
One abstraction layer sits over vendor-specific OMCI, SNMP and CLI behaviour, with an adapter per vendor. The network runs Huawei, ZTE, BDCOM and C-DATA OLTs today. A new OLT or ONU vendor plugs in without touching the core.
ONU registration is triggered from the subscriber card. Optical levels, ONU status and last-down cause show next to the subscriber, so support can diagnose a line without leaving the record.
↳ Rewritten Internet Access Management
RADIUS, PPPoE and IPoE handling was rebuilt on FreeRADIUS 3.x. Speed profiles, quotas and balance-driven suspend and restore apply automatically through the Cisco ISG, Huawei and MikroTik BNG/NAS.
↳ One Billing Core for Every Service
Plexteq unified the remaining services on the billing core:
1. Subscriber portal: unified portal and mobile app for every service with balances, invoices, tariff changes and online payment.
2. Staff tools: one console for billing, CRM, helpdesk and NOC with role segregation.
3. VoIP: Asterisk telephony rated and billed on the same account as internet.
4. IPTV/OTT: CrocOTT subscriptions kept in sync with tariffs and account status.
5. Triple-play tariffs: internet, TV and voice bundles with shared balances, discounts and one VAT-correct invoice in PLN.
↳ Zero-Disruption Migration
↳ Zero-Disruption Migration
The switch was planned so subscribers never noticed it:
1. Discovery: mapped legacy logic, every service, tariff, OLT and payment flow.
2. Rewrite: introduced the SDN control plane, rebuilt the Internet and PON management modules and tested them against the live BNG/NAS and OLTs.
3. Unification: moved the portal, staff tools, VoIP and IPTV/OTT onto the billing core.
4. Parallel run: migrated subscribers and balances in waves, ran old and new systems side by side and reconciled before cut-over.
Key Results
one unified billing core
billing core for internet, VoIP and IPTV/OTT
2 min
to activate a new ONU, down from 3-4 hours of manual work
~4 days
to onboard a new OLT/ONU vendor through a new adapter
-63%
billing-related support tickets
Business Outcome
Plexteq delivered the platform in two phases. Internet and PON management modules came first and ran in parallel with the legacy system until reconciliation was in sync. The portal, staff tools, VoIP and IPTV/OTT then moved onto the new unified billing core with no disruptive cut-over for paying subscribers.
As a result of engagement, the operator now has complete central control of its access network via SDN, runs all of its services from a single core and can expand its service coverage via fibre footprint without any corresponding increase in engineering backlogs. Plexteq continues to run, upgrade and extend the platform.
Measurable gains from the engagement:
-
Zero-touch ONU activation in ~2 minutes instead of 3-4 hours of manual work
-
An inventory that fits the field, including cascaded splitters
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New service tiers launched through configuration, not code
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New OLT/ONU vendors added through adapters, decreasing hardware lock-in
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One subscriber record, one portal, one staff console and a unified invoice for internet, VoIP and IPTV/OTT
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