Patent ID: 7274925

Claim:
A method for providing flexible communication device usage attribution comprising the steps of: receiving identification information of a user of a communication device from the communication device at a primary service provider; determining if the user of the communication device is an owner of the communication device at the primary service provider; attributing usage information to an account of the owner on the primary service provider when the user is identified as the owner; attributing usage information to an account of the user when the user is not identified as the owner and the user is subscribed to one of the primary service provider and a service provider associated with the primary service provider, wherein the step of attributing usage information comprises the steps of determining if the user is subscribed to the primary service provider, attributing usage information to the account of the user on the primary service provider when the user is subscribed to the primary service provider, determining if the user is subscribed to the service provider associated with the primary service provider when the user is not subscribed to the primary service provider, and sending usage information to the service provider associated with the primary service provider when the user is subscribed to the service provider associated with the primary service provider; and providing one or more personal settings of the user on the communication device, wherein the step of providing one or more personal settings comprises the steps of downloading one or more personal settings of the user from the service provider associated with the primary service provider to the primary service provider when the user is subscribed to the service provider associated with the primary service provider, and transmitting the one or more personal settings of the user from the primary service provider to the communication device.