Mobile operators, fixed-line providers, MVNOs, and telecoms infrastructure companies are paying vendor premium rates for software support on stable, mission-critical platforms. Billing systems, OSS/BSS, network management, and virtualisation infrastructure all carry TPS savings of 50–75% — without compromising uptime, security, or compliance.
The telecoms sector is under structural cost pressure — ARPUs declining, network infrastructure investment rising, and regulatory obligations growing. Yet vendor software support costs have been moving in the opposite direction. Oracle, SAP, IBM, and Broadcom have all implemented material price increases in the last 24 months. The result: telecoms IT teams are paying more for support on platforms they have no intention of replacing.
CDR rating and billing on Oracle Database — often running on Exadata — represents the highest-cost Oracle support line for most operators. Oracle's 22% annual support fee on a large Exadata deployment equates to £500K–£2M/year for software alone. TPS covers the full billing engine at 55–65% less.
Operators running IBM Informix for TimeSeries CDR storage (a common Ericsson and Nokia billing integration pattern) face IBM Informix 12.10 EOS and Extended Support surcharges. The Extended Support fee often exceeds what TPS would cost — and TPS provides full coverage including the DataBlade TimeSeries module.
NFV (Network Function Virtualisation) environments running vSphere as the virtualisation layer for virtual network functions (vEPC, vIMS, vRAN) are receiving Broadcom VCF renewal mandates at 3–5× prior SnS cost. Perpetual licence holders have a direct TPS alternative at 60–75% below VCF pricing.
Fixed-line, cable, and infrastructure operators using SAP IS-U for convergent billing — combining fixed telephony, broadband, and TV services on one billing platform — face SAP's standard 22% maintenance fee. IS-U has one of the highest custom code densities of any SAP module, making TPS's custom code coverage essential.
Many telecoms operators run SAP ECC or Oracle E-Business Suite for finance, procurement, and HR on versions that have reached SAP/Oracle EOS. Vendor pressure to migrate to S/4HANA or Oracle Cloud is commercially driven — TPS provides continued support on current versions without migration timeline pressure.
NIS2 (Network and Information Systems Directive) and sector-specific Ofcom/BEREC operational resilience requirements demand maintained patch coverage for critical telecoms infrastructure. TPS delivers security patches backported to your installed version — fully compatible with NIS2 ICT risk management obligations.
GoVendorFree supports the full enterprise software stack common across telecoms operators — billing systems, OSS/BSS infrastructure, virtualisation platforms, and ERP. Our engineers hold domain expertise in telecoms-specific applications and integration patterns.
Full TPS coverage for Oracle Database environments used in telecoms billing, CDR processing, and mediation. Exadata database software layer fully supported.
Full TPS coverage for SAP IS-U, ECC, BW, and HANA deployments. Particularly strong on IS-U convergent billing and custom FI-CA enhancements.
Full TPS coverage for VMware perpetual licences. The most immediate TPS opportunity in telecoms — Broadcom's VCF mandate at 3–5× prior SnS cost is the most common renewal challenge in the sector.
Full TPS coverage for IBM Informix (including TimeSeries DataBlade for CDR), IBM MQ for billing integration, and WebSphere Application Server for BSS front-ends.
The following table illustrates representative annual savings for a mid-tier telecoms operator with a typical enterprise software stack. Actual savings depend on processor count, product mix, and current support spend.
| Product / Environment | Vendor | Typical Vendor Support / yr | TPS / yr | Annual Saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle DB EE (CDR billing, 32 proc) | Oracle | £704,000 | £281,600 | £422,400 (60%) |
| Oracle Exadata X9M (full rack) | Oracle | £704,000 | £281,600 | £422,400 (60%) |
| SAP IS-U (convergent billing) | SAP | £264,000 | £105,600 | £158,400 (60%) |
| SAP ECC (Finance + HR) | SAP | £132,000 | £52,800 | £79,200 (60%) |
| VMware vSphere + vSAN (120 proc) vs. VCF | VMware/Broadcom | £2,160,000 (VCF) | £324,000 | £1,836,000 (85%) |
| IBM Informix + TimeSeries (CDR) | IBM | £88,000 | £35,200 | £52,800 (60%) |
| IBM MQ (billing integration) | IBM | £44,000 | £17,600 | £26,400 (60%) |
| Combined annual saving | £4,096,000 | £1,098,400 | £2,997,600 (73%) |
Estimates for illustration. Oracle DB EE at £27,500/proc, 22% SULS. SAP at 22% maintenance. VMware VCF at £18,000/proc/yr. TPS at 60% saving vs. vendor support (85% vs. VCF). Independent assessment required for your specific environment.
Common questions from telecoms IT and procurement teams evaluating independent third-party support.
Yes. Our 24/7/365 support model with 15-minute P1 SLA is specifically designed for environments where billing downtime has immediate revenue impact. Telecoms billing systems are among our most common P1 incident types — our engineers are experienced in CDR processing failures, Oracle RAC split-brain scenarios, and Informix recovery procedures.
NIS2 requires telecoms operators to maintain appropriate ICT security risk management measures, including patch management and third-party risk governance. TPS delivers security patch coverage and provides full audit documentation — SLA records, patch deployment logs, and incident reports — to satisfy your NIS2 compliance and risk management requirements.
Yes. Ericsson Charging System, Nokia CBIO, and similar billing mediation platform integrations with Oracle Database or IBM Informix are within our support scope. We cover the Oracle/Informix database layer and the integration interfaces — including custom mediation stored procedures and TimeSeries DataBlade operations.
Billing system transitions follow a parallel-run model. We document the environment and establish TPS coverage while your existing vendor support is still active. We do not cut over until full documentation is complete, a security patch baseline is established, and the TPS team has completed at least one simulated P1 tabletop exercise on your specific environment. Typical billing system transition: 6–10 weeks.
Yes. Cross-vendor TPS is one of our most significant operational advantages. Many telecoms operators run Oracle, SAP, VMware, and IBM simultaneously — and they have historically dealt with four separate vendor support relationships (and four-way finger-pointing when issues cross stacks). Our cross-vendor capability means one call resolves cross-stack issues, with full visibility of all supported environments.
TPS replaces the support contract — it does not affect your licence entitlements. Your Oracle, SAP, VMware, or IBM licence rights are contractual property independent of the support arrangement. Cancelling support does not surrender licence rights. Our licence optimisation service and audit defence service protect your licence position throughout the transition.
We specialise in complex, multi-vendor telecoms environments. Get a cost model covering Oracle, SAP, VMware, and IBM — combined into a single assessment.
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