Definition
Rate Card (rate table) is a data structure used in the connection management platform to define charging rules, containing price information based on dimensions such as country, operator, and usage tier. In the International IoT Cloud Platform (ICMP), the Rate Card supports multi-currency quoting, validity periods, and version control, and works with Geo-Based Pricing, Tiered Pricing, Volume Discount to support API queries, BSS integration, and Unified Invoice billing.
Working Principle
The Rate Card typically includes fields such as country/region, PLMN or operator, traffic unit price or data plan price, validity period, and currency. During billing, the platform calculates fees by matching the corresponding Rate Card entries based on information in CDR such as usage, location, and access network. Multi-version management is supported so that old versions can be retained for historical bill verification when new rates take effect. In cross-border scenarios, the Rate Card needs to work with FX Management and Multi-Currency Settlement to support multi-currency quotes and settlements.
Use Cases
Rate Card supports multiple billing scenarios: Roaming Tariffs — Defines traffic unit prices in different countries according to VPLMN , corresponding to agreements with Roaming Partner ; Tiered and Bulk Pricing — Tiered Pricing sets different unit prices based on usage tiers, Volume Discount gives discounts for large volume purchases; Regional Pricing — Geo-Based Pricing offers differentiated pricing by country or region to adapt to local markets; Data Plans and Data Packages — Prepaid data plans and data packages correspond to fixed prices, used in conjunction with Quota and Pooled Data .
Practice in ICMP
The Rate Card of SimtoLink ICMP supports multi-dimensional configuration and version management. Customers can query rates through the Global Dashboard or RESTful API for cost estimation and procurement decisions. The platform is deeply integrated with BSS, and Rate Card changes can be synchronized to the billing engine, supporting Usage Aggregation, CDR rating, and Unified Invoice generation. Combined with Usage Analytics, it can analyze cost distribution under different Rate Cards, providing data support for TCO optimization and business negotiations.