THIRD-PARTY CHARGING AND BILLING (3P-C&B)

An essential part of CBM is a new third-party charging and billing (3P-C&B) system. This should be based on the 3P-AAA architecture and utilize the AAA-protocol-based accounting and credit-controlling concept. The advantage of this approach is that the charging and accounting services can be built as a separate service and can be outsourced from the ANP and TSP/VASP into the 3P-AAA-SP domain as a 3P-AAA service.

·         Credit control server located in the 3P-C&B domain;

·         Credit control client (3P-CCC) commissioned near or co-located with the service equipment in TSP domain or with the access network resource in ANP domain. The 3P-CCC generates the credit control (CC) protocol messages based on the resource usage for which it has been commissioned. It covers some well-defined charging interfaces or reference points as input from the resource side (e.g., UMTS Ro).

Charging interactions are strictly related to service and network usage or requested change in QoS (i.e., consumer- or TSP-initiated change of the access network). The following main charging scenarios are envisaged in the CBM wireless environment:

·         Network usage: the consumer is charged for the use of (wireless) communications services of an access network owned by ANP;

·         Service usage: the consumer is charged for the use of a teleservice provided by TSP;

·         Network usage after an E2E executed ‘Host Access network Change’ (HAC): when ANP seeks from TSP (or VASP) the extra-charge of changing the access network. This situation occurs when TSP (or VASP) switches the current user service session via a new ANP because the original ANP provided unsuitable or inadequate QoS.

In the new CBM model, the charging is based on: (i) rating and conversion between the service units and the monetary units (entirely on the 3P-AAA server side and using the 3P-AAA-SP's C&B subsystem) and (ii) the consumer being charged via its 3P-AAA-SP (holding its account). To support these charging interactions between the 3P-AAA-SPs, there is a need to introduce and develop a new signalling protocol - an Inter-3P-AAA-SP protocol.

NOTE:
Hot Access Network Change (HAC) is analogous to the network handover concept, but its structure, as a user-driven integrated heterogeneous networking, the reasons for it and consequences of it are quite different so a different term is needed. A typical ABC&S reason for HAC would be the availability of a better access option and offer for the same teleservice from another access network