Patent ID: 8009816

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving in a first network a connection establishment request for a connection, the connection being through a network node of the first network to a second network such that the network node routes communications to the second network; generating, in response to at least the received connection establishment request, a connection-specific billing identifier for the connection in the first network in association with activating a packet data protocol context or in association with session initiation protocol messaging; adding the billing identifier to the received connection establishment request; causing, after adding the billing identifier, the received connection establishment request comprising the billing identifier to be forwarded to network nodes of the second network that collect billing information for the connection; attaching, in each node that collects billing information, the connection-specific billing identifier to the billing information collected for the connection; and combining the pieces of the billing information collected by different nodes that comprise the same connection-specific billing identifier, wherein a user terminal desiring a service uses both the first network and the second network in the telecommunication system, both networks comprising at least one node configured to collect billing information.