Patent ID: 8401528

Claim:
A method of providing communications services to a user of a mobile telephony device, comprising: displaying telephony communications services plan options offered by a first telephony service provider on a user's mobile telephony device that receives telephony service from a second telephony service provider; communicating the user's telephony communications services plan selection to a third party merchant via the user's mobile telephony device; and effecting the purchase of the selected telephony communications services plan from the third party merchant using the user's mobile telephony device such that the user can obtain telephony services from both the first telephony service provider and the second telephony service provider, wherein the user has a pre-existing account with the third party merchant, wherein the effecting step comprises facilitating communications between the third party merchant and the user such that the user can purchase the selected telephony communications services plan via the user's pre-existing account, wherein the user's mobile telephony device receives, from the third party merchant, information about the user's purchase of a telephony communications services plan after the purchase has been made, and wherein the user's mobile telephony device sends at least some of the information received from the third party merchant to the first telephony service provider so that the first telephony service provider can verify the user's purchase of a telephony communications services plan.