Aggregated billing for application-based network access and content consumption
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- allocating, by a system comprising a processor, network access resources of a communication network to a device;
facilitating establishment of a private communication channel between an application operating on the device and a communication server that controls access to a content server of a network content provider, wherein the private communication channel is restricted from a second application operating on the device;
facilitating consumption of media content by the device, the media content delivered over the private communication channel from the content server at least in part by way of the network access resources;
receiving, by the system, a consumption report pertaining to the network access resources and the media content;
retrieving, from the consumption report, first data representing a content report indicating the media content consumed at the device or the application operating on the device;
retrieving, from the consumption report, second data representing a network report of the network access resources provided for the application and restricted from the second application operating on the device in conjunction with consumption of the media content at the application or the device;
retrieving agreement data representing existence of a stored combined billing agreement between a network operator associated with the communication network and providing the network access resources to the application and restricted from the second application and a content provider facilitating transmission of the media content to the application or device;
compiling network access billing data from the first data incorporating charges for consumption of the network access resources and content billing data from the second data incorporating charges for consumption of the media content per the combined billing agreement represented by the agreement data; and
at least one of;
issuing a combined billing statement comprising the network access billing data and the content billing data in response to the agreement data indicating combined billing, orissuing separate billing statements respectively comprising the network access billing data and the content billing data in response to the agreement data indicating separate billing.
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Abstract
Providing for aggregate billing related to provisioning network access and network content to an application or device is described herein. By way of example, the application or device (e.g., a client, . . . ) can be provided network access at a discounted rate to access content of content provider. The network access can be general access, or can be limited access to one or more web-pages, domains, hosts, etc. in various embodiments. Charges for content consumed by the client can be an aggregated charge that includes charges for the content and charges for the network access. In various embodiments, network access can facilitate a relatively persistent connection to a network, with network access charges aggregated into charges for consumption of online content or utilization of online services, or vice versa.
40 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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allocating, by a system comprising a processor, network access resources of a communication network to a device; facilitating establishment of a private communication channel between an application operating on the device and a communication server that controls access to a content server of a network content provider, wherein the private communication channel is restricted from a second application operating on the device; facilitating consumption of media content by the device, the media content delivered over the private communication channel from the content server at least in part by way of the network access resources; receiving, by the system, a consumption report pertaining to the network access resources and the media content; retrieving, from the consumption report, first data representing a content report indicating the media content consumed at the device or the application operating on the device; retrieving, from the consumption report, second data representing a network report of the network access resources provided for the application and restricted from the second application operating on the device in conjunction with consumption of the media content at the application or the device; retrieving agreement data representing existence of a stored combined billing agreement between a network operator associated with the communication network and providing the network access resources to the application and restricted from the second application and a content provider facilitating transmission of the media content to the application or device; compiling network access billing data from the first data incorporating charges for consumption of the network access resources and content billing data from the second data incorporating charges for consumption of the media content per the combined billing agreement represented by the agreement data; and
at least one of;issuing a combined billing statement comprising the network access billing data and the content billing data in response to the agreement data indicating combined billing, or issuing separate billing statements respectively comprising the network access billing data and the content billing data in response to the agreement data indicating separate billing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification