A system includes at least one mobile communication network for granting user equipment (UE) subscribed to the network a corresponding data quota comprising a corresponding amount of mobile data the UE can exchange with the network it is subscribed to. The system further includes a broker platform for making available for at least one mobile communication network a corresponding set of further data quotas, the broker platform further receiving a data amount request of a corresponding additional data quota for a UE subscribed to a corresponding network. In response to the received data amount request, the broker platform selects a further data quota from the set of further data quotas corresponding to the network the UE is subscribed to, and provides the additional data quota to the UE through the network the UE is subscribed to by exploiting at least a part of the selected further additional data quota.

Charging interval authorizations according to the techniques disclosed herein provide for credit reservation and charging of whole charging intervals across two or more credit containers(36) in or linked to a subscriber account (34), without the need for redefining the charging interval size, even where the types of credit units differ between or among the credit containers (36) used to authorize the charging interval. Among the various advantages, the disclosed techniques preserve the original charging interval size, which may be defined for reasons of signaling efficiency, while simultaneously allowing the reservation or consumption of credit units from credit containers (36) having insufficient remaining credit for authorization of the full charging interval.

A charging method includes: determining, by a control plane function entity (CP), that a data flow that is transmitted by user equipment (UE) on a first data session needs to be migrated to a second data session; charging, by the CP, the data flow on the first UP through a first charging session between the CP and a charging system; obtaining, by the CP, charging information of the data flow before the migration that is counted by the first UP; and determining, by the CP, a quota that is used for the data flow after the migration is necessary to be delivered to the second UP, and delivering the quota to the second UP, thereby charging a service data flow of a user in a case of migration between user planes.

A system, method, and computer program product are provided for managing a shared quota for a plurality of network subscribers in a consumer telecommunications network. In use, a first usage quota reservation out of a shared quota is allocated to at least one first subscriber among a plurality of network subscribers. Further, it is determined that at least a portion of the shared quota is available. Additionally, a progressively smaller at least one second usage quota reservation out of the at least a portion of the shared quota is recursively allocated to the at least one first subscriber among the plurality of network subscribers, the smaller at least one second usage quota reservation being smaller than the first usage quota reservation out of the shared quota.

The present invention relates to a server, a method and a system for allowing a user terminal to receive and use a data capacity shared by a donor terminal, and provide a reward that is as much as the data capacity shared by the donor terminal and provide, to the user terminal, charging information corresponding to the use of data, thereby enabling a fair and meaningful compensation system.

A node (30) of a charging system (28) associated with a communication network (10) considers subscriber-designated priorities in a circumstance that involves two or more communication services “competing” for the same pool of credit that is used in online charging for consumption of the two or more communication services. As an example, subscriber information (34) associated with a user device (12) includes input from the involved subscriber that designates a certain communication service as a prioritized communication service. Ina case where granting quotas of service units for authorizing service consumption and making corresponding credit reservations involves competition between a subscriber-prioritized service and another service not prioritized by the subscriber, the node (30) adapts its granting operations to give preference to the subscriber-prioritized service.

A method for transferring funds to a second electronic computing device includes establishing a first pre-paid payment account on a first electronic computing device. The first pre-paid payment account is used to establish one or more second pre-paid payment accounts. The one or more second pre-paid payment accounts have a value that is less than or equal to the first pre-paid payment account. A first account identifier is obtained for one of the second pre-paid payment accounts. The first account identifier is sent to the second electronic computing device. The sending of the first account identifier to the second electronic computing device results in a transfer of ownership of the one more second pre-paid accounts from a first user at the first electronic computing device to a second user at the second electronic computing device.

The embodiments herein relate to a method performed by a charging function (125) for handling a subscriber's communication services. The charging function (125) detects that a subscriber's credit account has reached or fallen below a credit threshold when the subscriber has multiple ongoing communication services consuming credit from the credit account. The charging function (125) sends a threshold notification to a UE (101) on which the subscriber has at least one of the multiple ongoing communication services. The charging function (125) determines if a response to the threshold notification has been received with prioritization of one of the multiple ongoing communication services. If a response with prioritization of one communication service has been received, the charging function (125) initiates termination of all ongoing communication services except the prioritized communication service, and provides all available credit to be available for the prioritized communication service.

A method and system for transferring access to cellular services from a postpaid subscriber account to a prepaid subscriber account are disclosed. A central postpaid system receives a request to transfer cellular services from the postpaid subscriber account to the prepaid subscriber account. The cellular services are transferred to a central prepaid system for the prepaid subscriber account. The amount of the transferred cellular services is deducted from the postpaid subscriber account stored in the central postpaid system. A monetary amount from the prepaid subscriber account is credited to the postpaid subscriber account for the transferred amount of cellular services.

A method for transferring funds to a second electronic computing device includes establishing a first pre-paid payment account on a first electronic computing device. The first pre-paid payment account is used to establish one or more second pre-paid payment accounts. The one or more second pre-paid payment accounts have a value that is less than or equal to the first pre-paid payment account. A first account identifier is obtained for one of the second pre-paid payment accounts. The first account identifier is sent to the second electronic computing device. The sending of the first account identifier to the second electronic computing device results in a transfer of ownership of the one more second pre-paid accounts from a first user at the first electronic computing device to a second user at the second electronic computing device.