Distributed and localized policy and charging control in cellular networks to enable route flexibility

Methods, systems, and computer program products for distributed and localized policy and charging control in cellular networks are provided herein. A computer-implemented method includes configuring, within a network, (i) policy and charging enforcement functionality and (ii) policy and charging rules functionality by: implementing (i) remote policy and charging enforcement functionality components and (ii) remote policy and charging rules functionality components within the network, wherein each of the remote components executes in a virtual machine on a compute node that is co-located with an evolved node B; and retaining (i) centralized policy and charging enforcement functionality components and (ii) centralized policy and charging rules functionality components within the network; and executing transactions on the network via: implementing an interaction between (a) the centralized components and (b) the remote components to transmit information to a billing system associated with the telecommunications network.