Patent ID: 7184530

Claim:
A method for providing prepaid billing comprising: a first-network-access device receiving from a prepaid-user account prepaid services for a first-communication session; a second-network-access device requesting from the prepaid-user account prepaid services for a second-communication session in a data network while the first-communication session is ongoing; responsive to requesting prepaid services for a second-communication session, the first-network-access device receiving from a prepaid-billing system a request to update the prepaid-user account for prepaid-services usage of the first-communication session; responsive to the request, the first-network-access device sending to the prepaid-billing system prepaid services usage for the first communication session; and after the update of the prepaid-user account, the second-network-access device receiving from the prepaid-billing system prepaid services for the second communication session.