Patent ID: 6934528

Claim:
A method for creating telecommunication account/subscription hierarchies via a network, where a telecommunication account/subscription hierarchy is used by an entity owning/controlling the hierarchy to manage telecommunication accounts/subscriptions in the hierarchy, the method comprising: sending an account/subscription level invitation to one or more entities to join a telecommunication account/subscription hierarchy, where the entitles have respective telecommunication accounts/subscriptions; receiving, from the one or more of the entities, one or more respective requests to join the telecommunication account/subscription hierarchy based upon the account/subscription level invitation; adding to the telecommunication accounts/subscription hierarchy one or more telecommunication accounts/subscriptions corresponding to the one or more requests to join the hierarchy; and transferring value between two accounts/subscriptions in the telecommunications account/subscription hierarchy, where one is a pre-paid account/subscription and another is a post-paid account/subscription and where one of the two accounts/subscriptions was added to the telecommunication account/subscription hierarchy by said adding.