MegaFon Migrates to Nexign DRA to Improve the Performance and Flexibility of the Signaling Network
MegaFon, one of the leading Russian CSPs with over 78 million subscribers, has begun a phased migration of its signaling traffic to Nexign DRA. This modern, high-performance solution manages Diameter message routing and load balancing across the operator’s 3G and 4G networks. The first of MegaFon’s subsidiaries has already made the switch successfully—with no service disruption or impact on customers.
The project was driven by the need to replace a legacy system that had become a source of security vulnerabilities and stability risks after the vendor ended support. A cloud-native solution was essential to ensure greater scalability and faster configuration of the DRA engine.
Nexign DRA offers several key advantages over previously installed legacy software. It gives operators greater control and flexibility by enabling them to develop new routing rules and customize them through configuration and low-code tools without the vendor’s involvement. Network engineers can use any Diameter message parameter to set new traffic processing and load balancing rules to quickly adapt them to evolving business requirements and optimize network resources. In addition, the solution’s high performance on standard servers helps significantly reduce annual infrastructure investments. Nexign DRA also ensures improved reliability through features like message mirroring, overload control, advanced failover tools, which maintain high reliability and uninterrupted operation even under heavy load.
The implementation has also allowed MegaFon to streamline its network architecture. Previously required separate load balancers for charging and policy management functions have been eliminated, as this functionality is now integrated into Nexign DRA.
The migration is proceeding sequentially. Diameter traffic for one of MegaFon's branches is almost completed, with the new platform already handling 10% of signaling traffic and over one million successful network registrations per hour. The plan is to migrate all eight of the company's branches to the new solution. The project is designed to be technically scalable, handling projected load increases for the next seven years or more.
The transition to Nexign DRA enables MegaFon to enhance signaling network performance and scalability. By the end of 2026, the system's throughput is planned to reach 456,000 transactions per second, with potential expansion to 5 million. It also allows the operator to reduce investment in network equipment. The solution already provides the necessary level of performance with fewer resources, and it in the future will help optimize long-term operational costs for DRA systems.
It is crucial for us to have all key network elements under our technological control. Nexign DRA ensures this independence while creating new development opportunities. The solution has already helped us optimize the network topology, reduce maintenance costs, and simplify signaling traffic management—all of which directly positively impacts connection stability and service speed for millions of our subscribers.