Method for providing price information to subscribers of a digital mobile communication network

The invention relates to a method for providing tariff information to a subscriber of a digital mobile communication network.

In telecommunications, especially with digital mobile communication networks, there are many different tariffs and tariff systems. The tariffs depend, among other things, on the tariff group selected by the subscriber, time of day, target communication network, as well as distance (domestic / foreign). Although subscribers of mobile communication networks are usually well-informed about a single call tariff, it is nevertheless difficult to have an idea of ​​the memory of the actual costs of an expected call at a given moment.

Another problem is the so-called MNP (Mobile Number Portability). Based on the MNP principle, it is possible that a subscriber of a particular mobile network can keep the original telephone number also when switching to another mobile network. Thus, it is not possible for the caller to set a tariff based on the original subscriber number he chose. Thus, the dialed number 0171 1234567, originally belonging to the German D1 mobile network, on an MNP basis, may belong to a subscriber who has moved to another German mobile network, so that the calling tariff is higher than originally assumed.

The object of the invention is to develop a method for informing the subscriber about the tariff of a digital mobile communication network, which would simply inform the subscriber about the costs of the call made.

The method according to the invention is characterized in that when dialing a telephone number, a high priority short message (SMS) containing tariff information is sent from the network element to the mobile radio terminal of the subscriber, the expected ongoing call costs are displayed directly on the display of the subscriber's mobile radio terminal, connection costs are only displayed when where the actual tariff is not the same as the tariff expected based on the dialed telephone number, the dialed telephone number being a mobile number portability (MNP) or a special cellular number.

Preferably, the subscriber receives the actual call costs when setting up the desired connection.

Preferably, the subscriber receives the actual call costs before establishing the desired call.

Preferably, the subscriber allows the call setup by confirming the communicated actual call costs.

If the subscriber is informed prior to setting up the desired connection, the subscriber may, by acknowledging the transmitted tariff information, allow the connection set-up or terminate the connection setup.

A specific type of SMS message can be used to inform about the tariff, in which, firstly, the SMS message appears directly on the display of the mobile telephony device - usually below the active network designation - and SMS messages. This form of SMS message is used, for example, today for notification of message delivery. Preferably, it is a short message of high priority, so-called High-Priority-SMS. This short message has a short delivery time and is shown directly on the telephone indicator of the mobile radio.

In order that the subscriber does not receive an SMS message with tariff information on each connection attempt, the sending of the SMS message can be limited to a case where the tariff deviates from the one expected based on the dialed number. This is especially the case for calling subscribers having an MNP, but also for calling special numbers etc. In the following, one embodiment of the invention is explained with reference to Fig. 1, from which other characteristic features of the invention, its advantages and applications arise.

An advantage of the method according to the invention is that the mobile subscriber is kept informed about the current rates and costs of calls without the need for additional and complicated search for this information on his own.

The subject of the invention in an exemplary embodiment is shown in the drawing in which

Fig. 1 schematically shows the logical structure of IN for a digital mobile communication network, for example of the GSM type.

PL 210 147 B1

The call setup and call transfer are controlled by so-called signaling points, especially service control points 2 (SCP: Service Control Point), service switching points 5 (SCP: Service Control Point), which are controlled from the superior service management system 1 (Service Management System).

The service control point 2 is used to manage the network points and contains the control level service logic which is necessary to implement a fast and flexible connection process. In addition, SCP 2 transmits connection information, such as billing and statistics, to other network elements.

The service switching point 5 is a network node with network access and connection function, and has direct interfaces to subscriber terminals 7, 8. In the area of ​​SSP 5, also billing center 6 (BC: Billing Center) may be set.

Between SCP 2_a and SSP 5 there are signaling transfer points 3, 4 (STP: Signaling Transfer Point) for network signaling. STPs are used to transmit signaling messages between individual service and signaling points, but may also undertake other tasks in signaling.

Mobile network network elements that are used to transmit the actual calls, such as mobile radiocommunication (MS) terminals, base stations (BTS) and their control (BSC), mobile switching exchanges (MSC), etc., in Fig. 1 were not presented. These elements are connected via appropriate interfaces to the signaling points described above.

According to the present invention, an SMS message is initiated to inform about the tariff from the network element that sets the call tariff. For a prepaid subscriber, this is for example SCP 2. When setting up a call, subscriber 7 receives from SCP 2 or initiates an SMS message from SCP about the expected cost of the call. This is represented as a logical arrow from SCP 2 to subscriber 7. The indicator of the subscriber's mobile communication terminal then shows, for example, This call costs 1.29 DM per minute.

For normal subscription subscribers, STP 3 initiates the sending of an SMS message for tariff information, since the STP in this case is also the subscriber's port. This is also marked with an arrow.