# EDR vs CDR — what's the difference?

> CDR (Call Detail Record) is the operator's billing record for a single chargeable event — a call, an SMS, a data session — typically generated at the network element that mediated the event (MSC, SMSC, GGSN, OCS). EDR (Event Detail Record) is the broader analytics-and-application-layer record that captures everything happening around an event: not just the billed call, but the platform-level metadata that surrounds it. CDRs are what get billed; EDRs are what get analysed.

- Canonical URL: https://www.broadnet.me/answers/edr-vs-cdr
- Language: en
- Last reviewed: 2026-07-25
- Publisher: BroadNet (https://www.broadnet.me)

## What each one captures

A CDR is structured per operator-defined billing schema: subscriber identity (IMSI/MSISDN), called party, duration or message count, start/end timestamps, network element, charging classification. CDRs are the source-of-truth for revenue. An EDR is application-defined: it captures the full lifecycle of an event from the platform's perspective — for an SMS, things like submit time, validity, sender-ID, content classification, template ID, queue dwell time per hop, DLR receipt time, retry count, final delivery status, and error code. EDRs are the source-of-truth for operational analytics and customer-facing dashboards.

## Why the distinction matters commercially

Operators pay billing systems for CDR processing; they need analytics platforms for EDR processing. Confusing the two leads to bad decisions: trying to do operational troubleshooting from billing CDRs is painfully limited (the CDR doesn't know why the message failed, only that it did). Trying to drive revenue from raw EDRs misses the billing reconciliation that CDRs anchor. BroadNet's ESME CDR Intelligence Suite (/platforms/esme-cdr) correlates EDR feeds from the messaging platform with CDR feeds from the operator's billing to reconcile billed-vs-delivered counts.

## Latency, scale, and compliance angle

CDRs are typically batched and delivered to billing/mediation on a 5-15 minute cycle; EDRs are usually streamed continuously into a time-series store. Scale: a tier-1 operator generates billions of CDRs/month, often tens of times more EDRs (because the platform creates EDRs for every submit, every retry, every DLR, every state change). Compliance: CDR retention is regulator-mandated (5-7 years for tax/wholesale; longer in some markets); EDR retention is operationally chosen, typically 12-24 months.

## Privacy and compliance considerations

Both CDRs and EDRs are personal data once tied to an MSISDN. Mature platforms keep the raw records in encrypted, access-controlled storage with audit logging, and serve aggregated dashboards from a separate pseudonymised store. Cross-border export of CDR/EDR is in scope for KSA PDPL, UAE Federal Data Protection Law, EU GDPR Schrems II; data-residency is typically enforced at the storage layer.

## CDR vs EDR at a glance

|  | CDR (Call Detail Record) | EDR (Event Detail Record) |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Billing / revenue source-of-truth | Operational analytics source-of-truth |
| Schema | Operator billing schema | Application-defined event lifecycle |
| Generated by | Network element (MSC / SMSC / OCS) | The messaging platform |
| Captures | The chargeable event facts | Full lifecycle + platform metadata |
| Delivery | Batched (5–15 min cycle) | Streamed continuously |
| Retention | Regulator-mandated (5–7 yrs) | Operationally chosen (12–24 mo) |

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the core difference between a CDR and an EDR?

CDRs are what get billed; EDRs are what get analysed. A CDR is the operator's billing record for a chargeable event; an EDR is the platform's richer, application-level record of the whole event lifecycle.

### Can I troubleshoot delivery problems from CDRs?

Only crudely. A CDR records that an event was billed, not why a message failed — it lacks the submit time, queue dwell, retry count, DLR timing, and error codes an EDR carries. Operational diagnosis needs EDRs.

### Are CDRs and EDRs personal data?

Yes, once tied to an MSISDN or IMSI both are personal data and fall under PDPL (KSA/UAE) and GDPR. Keep raw records encrypted and access-controlled, and serve dashboards from a separate pseudonymised store.

### How do operators reconcile billed vs delivered counts?

By correlating the two feeds: EDRs from the messaging platform (what was submitted and delivered) against CDRs from billing (what was charged). BroadNet's ESME CDR Intelligence Suite automates exactly this reconciliation.

## Related

- [What is a DLR?](https://www.broadnet.me/answers/what-is-dlr)
- [ESME CDR Intelligence (platform)](https://www.broadnet.me/platforms/esme-cdr)
- [MTTR explained](https://www.broadnet.me/answers/what-is-mttr)
- [All answers](https://www.broadnet.me/answers)
- [What is a DLR (Delivery Receipt)?](https://www.broadnet.me/answers/what-is-dlr)
- [ASR — Answer-Seizure Ratio explained](https://www.broadnet.me/answers/what-is-asr)
- [MTTR — Mean Time To Recovery explained](https://www.broadnet.me/answers/what-is-mttr)
- [ESME CDR Intelligence](https://www.broadnet.me/platforms/esme-cdr)
- [Signaling & CDR Intelligence](https://www.broadnet.me/platforms/signaling-cdr)