Patent ID: 8880024

Claim:
A method of updating location numbers of cells associated with a mobile switching center (MSC), the method comprising: receiving in the MSC within a first time interval, a location number for a cell with an updated second set of one or more digits representing a second discount and updating the location number of the cell stored in the MSC, wherein the location number for each cell is stored in a database of the MSC, said location number comprising a number of digits identifying the cell and representing a discount applicable to the cell, wherein a first set of one or more digits of the location number represents a first discount applicable to service usage in the cell and a second set of one or more digits of the location number represents the second discount applicable to the service usage in the cell; in response to any service request received during the first time interval, fetching the location number from the database of the MSC for the cell, from which the service is originating, and sending the location number to a charging system for charging of the requested service with the first discount; receiving in the MSC within a second time interval following the first time interval, the location number for the cell with an updated first set of the one or more digits representing the first discount and updating the location number of the cell stored in the MSC, wherein the first and second time intervals are any consecutive time intervals of a determined length repeated any number of times; and in response to any service request received during the second time interval, fetching the location number from the database of the MSC for the cell, from which the service is originating, and sending the location number to the charging system for charging of the requested service with the second discount.