A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided in accordance with example embodiments in order to provide methods, apparatuses, and/or systems that reduce and/or eliminate network inefficiencies caused by the traffic profile associated with narrow band Internet-of-Things (NB-IoT) devices and similar devices, by applying and optimizing protocols governing the allocation of network resources to such devices. In some example implementations, a serving gateway (SGW) and/or a packet data network gateway (PGW) is locally configured with a threshold set that includes limits on the permissible traffic associated with a NB-IoT device and/or a similar device over a given unit of time. To the extent that the traffic remains within such limits, generation of charging data records (CDRs) and signaling to an online charging server may be reduced or eliminated.

A system for customizing time limits for inmate communications in a correctional facility is disclosed. The system includes a profile subsystem that stores an inmate profile of the inmate and a communication processing subsystem comprising one or more processors configured to receive data of an inmate communication of an inmate, identify a type of communication device of the inmate and a call recipient of the inmate communication based on the data of the inmate communication, retrieve the inmate profile of the inmate form the profile subsystem, identify a plurality of behaviors of the inmate based on the inmate profile, determine a time limit based on at least one of the type of communication device, the call recipient of the inmate communication, and the plurality of behaviors of the inmate, and assign the time limit to the inmate communication of the inmate.

A device receives, from a user device, a connection request for connecting to a core network associated with the device, and determines, based on receiving the connection request, that a usage associated with the user device exceeds a usage threshold. The device generates a first network connectivity status indicator based on determining that the usage associated with the user device exceeds the usage threshold, and provides, to the user device, information indicating the first network connectivity status indicator. The information indicating the first network connectivity status indicator is to cause the user device to display the first network connectivity status indicator.

The present disclosure provides a method (200) in a network entity for control of a Value Added Service (VAS) to be provided for a user. The method (200) comprises: receiving (S210) from another network entity an indication of an account status of a VAS related account associated with the user; determining (S220) a VAS control policy for the VAS based on the account status; and transmitting (S230) the VAS control policy to a network controller that controls provision of the VAS.

Systems and methods receive first traffic originating from a mobile device and second traffic originating from second devices tethered to the mobile device; tag the first traffic to indicate that the traffic originates from the mobile device; tag the second traffic to indicate that the traffic originates from the second devices; receive subscriber data that includes a first threshold and a second threshold, wherein the first threshold is associated with the first traffic originating from the mobile device and the second threshold is associated with the second traffic originating from the second devices tethered to the mobile device; determine that an amount of the second traffic exceeds the second threshold; rate limit the second traffic without rate limiting the first traffic when the amount of the second traffic exceeds the second threshold and an amount of the first traffic does not exceed the first threshold.

A system for customizing time limits for inmate communications in a correctional facility is disclosed. The system includes a profile subsystem that stores an inmate profile of the inmate and a communication processing subsystem comprising one or more processors configured to receive data of an inmate communication of an inmate, identify a type of communication device of the inmate and a call recipient of the inmate communication based on the data of the inmate communication, retrieve the inmate profile of the inmate form the profile subsystem, identify a plurality of behaviors of the inmate based on the inmate profile, determine a time limit based on at least one of the type of communication device, the call recipient of the inmate communication, and the plurality of behaviors of the inmate, and assign the time limit to the inmate communication of the inmate.

Systems and methods receive first traffic originating from a mobile device and second traffic originating from second devices tethered to the mobile device; tag the first traffic to indicate that the traffic originates from the mobile device; tag the second traffic to indicate that the traffic originates from the second devices; receive subscriber data that includes a first threshold and a second threshold, wherein the first threshold is associated with the first traffic originating from the mobile device and the second threshold is associated with the second traffic originating from the second devices tethered to the mobile device; determine that an amount of the second traffic exceeds the second threshold; rate limit the second traffic without rate limiting the first traffic when the amount of the second traffic exceeds the second threshold and an amount of the first traffic does not exceed the first threshold.

In various embodiments, methods and systems for implementing motion-based parental controls on mobile devices using virtual private network (VPN)-based parental control services are provided. A parental control profile is received at a controlled device where the parental control profile includes instructions to configure the controlled device with a device motion-based control policy. The device motion-based control policy includes a motion-related condition and a resource that is restricted when the motion-related condition is met. A VPN is configured using the parental control profile. The VPN comprises a virtual point-to-point connection between the controlled device and a network of the parental control service. When it is determined that the motion-related condition of the controlled device has been met, a restricted mode is initiated on the controlled device to restrict the resource. It is contemplated that the restricted mode supports a VPN channel and a cellular channel for restricted and unrestricted resources, respectively.

Unauthorized and fraudulent use of a cloud computing system may be reduced or mitigated using a multi-threshold based method to identify fraudulent subscribers of the cloud. The multi-threshold based method may assign a fraud threshold to each resource of the cloud. The fraud thresholds of the multi-threshold based method may be adjusted based on one or more characteristics associated with one or more of the plurality of resources in the cloud. The one or more characteristics may include a capacity percentage associated with the plurality of resources, fraud distribution among the plurality of resources, cost of operation associated with the plurality of resources, anticipated or actual subscriber growth rate associated with the plurality of resources and/or anticipated or actual subscriber fraud risk associated with the plurality of resources.

Customer devices (e.g., mobile cellular phones) are configured to interact with a communications service provider (and optionally an administration and monitoring system). A customer device is configured as a capped pay-as-you-go device in which the customer associated with the device is charged no more than a pre-arranged amount in any given (dynamic or static) billing period. For example, if $50 is the capped amount for a billing period, a user might pay $10 for using 1 gigabyte of data in a billing period, or it might pay $50 whether it used 5 gigabytes of data or 10 gigabytes of data in a single billing period.