KDDI Chooses Oracle Cloud for Massive Billing Infrastructure Overhaul

Quick Brief

• KDDI Corporation, Japan’s second-largest telecom with au mobile service, selected Oracle Cloud Scale Charging and Billing for complete platform upgrade
• Oracle’s solution validated 1,000 use cases during proof-of-concept testing, demonstrating significant cost reductions on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
• Fujitsu partners with Oracle Customer Solutions team for implementation, supporting KDDI’s expansion into financial services and energy sectors
• Platform modernization enables faster product releases and AI-ready infrastructure to serve KDDI’s approximately 70 million subscribers

KDDI Corporation has abandoned its legacy billing infrastructure in favor of Oracle’s cloud-native platform, a decision that signals the telco’s aggressive push into 5G monetization and AI-driven services. The Japanese telecommunications giant, which operates the au mobile phone service with approximately 70 million subscribers as of March 2025, announced the partnership on February 13, 2026. This move addresses escalating operational expenses and eliminates bottlenecks that delayed new service launches.

Why KDDI Needed Billing Transformation

KDDI’s aging charging and rating system created three critical problems. High infrastructure expenses consumed resources that could fuel innovation. Specialized personnel requirements slowed time-to-market for competitive offerings. The inflexible architecture couldn’t support KDDI’s expansion strategy into digital transformation, financial services, and energy markets sectors where the company leverages its 5G foundation and generative AI capabilities.

The company’s growth ambitions required a billing platform that scales effortlessly and adapts instantly. KDDI has built value-added services on top of its telecommunications infrastructure, particularly through data-driven initiatives. Legacy systems lacked the agility to capture emerging market opportunities or meet rapidly evolving technical requirements.

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Oracle Cloud Scale Charging and Billing: The Solution

Oracle’s platform passed KDDI’s comprehensive evaluation by demonstrating off-the-shelf viability for approximately 1,000 use cases. When tested on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), the architecture proved it could deliver significant cost reductions freeing the budget for strategic projects. The solution combines converged charging for 2G through 5G networks, real-time rating, and flexible billing models.

The solution supports subscription billing, white-label billing, and billing-on-behalf-of models. Its in-memory charging grid provides ultra-low latency and extreme scalability. Active-active deployment mode across distributed dual sites prevents business disruption during node, machine, or site failures.

Implementation Strategy and Partners

Fujitsu serves as development and implementation partner, working alongside Oracle’s Customer Solutions for Industries team. This collaboration provides KDDI with trusted delivery governance and a roadmap to support additional business models at scale. The partnership extends KDDI’s existing relationship with Oracle, the Japanese carrier previously adopted Oracle Database for its au PAY online payment service and au Ponta Points loyalty program in 2023.

“The implementation of Oracle Cloud Scale Charging and Billing represents a pivotal step in KDDI’s long-term strategy,” said Katsuya Masuda, General Manager, Information Systems Division at KDDI Corporation. The executive emphasized rapid innovation, confident scaling, and exceptional subscriber experiences as key outcomes.

Business Impact and Strategic Advantages

KDDI gains several competitive advantages from the migration. Development productivity for new products increases dramatically. The platform’s cloud-native architecture supports DevOps agility and efficiency. AI-ready infrastructure positions KDDI to monetize next-generation services.

Oracle’s solution handles consumer, enterprise, and partner billing with full partner settlement across complex value chains and network slices. This capability matters as KDDI expands beyond traditional telecommunications into financial services and energy sectors. The platform’s flexibility supports personalized, insight-driven customer experiences that help KDDI manage revenue flow across various business models.

Andrew Morawski, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Oracle Applications for Regulated Industries, highlighted the combination of “industry-proven charging and rating, hyperscale cloud infrastructure, a next-generation data platform, and expert services”. He stated these elements help KDDI gain business insights that transform operations, customer service, and revenue generation.

KDDI’s Market Position and Digital Evolution

KDDI ranks as Japan’s second-largest telecommunications company by subscriber count, trailing only NTT Docomo. As of March 2024, KDDI Group held 30.6% of Japan’s mobile phone subscription market share, while NTT Docomo commanded 40.6%. The carrier provides mobile cellular services under the au brand, ISP services as au one net, and fiber-to-home offerings marketed as au Hikari.

KDDI launched 3G networks using CDMA2000 1x technology in April 2002 and revolutionized Japan’s mobile industry in November 2003 with EV-DO Rev 0 service under the CDDI 1X WIN brand. The company’s infrastructure evolution continues with 5G deployment and collaborative projects. In August 2014, KDDI joined Google and four other global companies to build a 60 Tbit/s undersea data transmission cable linking the U.S. West Coast and Japan, which began operations in June 2016. KDDI partnered with Ericsson in December 2015 for 5G technology research and development.

Technical Architecture Advantages

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure provides the foundation for KDDI’s modernized billing platform. OCI’s performance characteristics enable single-digit millisecond latency in multi-site deployments scaled to support 100 million concurrently active subscribers. The charging engine uses an in-memory grid architecture that supports high-volume, low-latency core network charging for 4G and 5G services.

The platform includes Oracle Communications Convergent Charging Controller, which offers comprehensive network data collection, aggregation, and correlation for multiple network types including 5G and hybrid 4G/LTE/5G networks. It’s 3GPP compliant, supporting both standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) 5G core networks.

Revenue Management and Billing Operations

Oracle’s solution provides comprehensive billing operations management. The platform handles payments, collections, invoicing, accounts receivable, taxation, general ledger integration, and reporting. Flexible contract management addresses the complexities of revenue recognition across subscription models and partnership arrangements.

KDDI can rate any metric or attribute, support any payment option, and authorize all transactions in real-time. The TM Forum-certified pricing UI is designed for business users with intuitive, web-based navigation workflows. This eliminates technical barriers that previously slowed pricing strategy execution.

Limitations and Considerations

Legacy system migration always carries implementation risks. KDDI must transfer billing data, customer records, and operational processes without service disruption. The complexity of supporting 1,000 use cases requires extensive testing and validation. Staff training on Oracle’s platform adds temporary workload to specialized teams.

Cloud dependency creates new operational considerations. KDDI previously controlled its entire infrastructure stack. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure now hosts critical billing functions, requiring trust in Oracle’s uptime guarantees and disaster recovery capabilities. The company mitigates this through Oracle’s dual-site active-active deployment architecture.

Industry Context and Future Outlook

Telecommunications carriers worldwide face similar pressures to modernize billing systems. 5G monetization demands real-time charging capabilities and flexible pricing models that legacy platforms cannot deliver. Network slicing, IoT services, and edge computing create billing complexity that requires cloud-native solutions.

KDDI’s Oracle adoption may influence other Asia-Pacific carriers evaluating billing modernization. The proof-of-concept validation of 1,000 use cases demonstrates practical viability beyond vendor claims. Cost reduction evidence from OCI testing provides quantifiable justification for migration investments.

The partnership strengthens Oracle’s position in telecommunications billing, a market where competition includes Ericsson, Amdocs, and CSG International. KDDI’s scale and technical requirements make it a reference customer for Oracle’s Cloud Scale Charging and Billing platform.

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