Patent ID: 7305090

Claim:
A method comprising: granting radio network access to a first wireless device operating under a given mobile identification number (MIN) and a given electronic serial number (ESN), and then engaging in a first over-the-air activation process to establish a first subscriber account for the first wireless device and to program the first wireless device with a first new MIN; and granting radio network access to a second wireless device operating under the same given MIN and the same given ESN, and then engaging in a second over-the-air phone activation process to establish a second subscriber account for the second wireless device and to program the second wireless device with a second new MIN different than the first new MIN, wherein granting radio network access to the first wireless device operating under the given MIN and the given ESN comprises receiving a first registration request from the first wireless device and responsively sending a first authentication request carrying the given MIN and given ESN to an authentication entity, and receiving from the authentication entity, in response to the first authentication request, a first authentication response, wherein granting radio network access to the second wireless device operating under the given MIN and the given ESN comprises receiving a second registration request from the second wireless device and responsively sending a second authentication request carrying the given MIN and given ESN to the authentication entity, and receiving from the authentication entity, in response to the second authentication request, a second authentication response, wherein the authentication entity comprises at least one of a home location register (HLR) and an authentication center (AC), wherein the authentication entity allows multiple wireless devices to operate concurrently under the given MIN and given ESN, and wherein the authentication entity also receives and responds to authentication requests for previously-activated wireless devices.