Telecommunications Service Provisioning and Banking of Customer Credits

Abstract

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for providing telecommunication services based on customer groups. A customer group is offered a service plan that provides an incentive to early subscribers in the form of a more attractive pricing plan (i.e., discounts). For example, a particular subscriber may be provided a discount for each customer in the group who becomes a subscriber after the particular subscriber. The discounts and pricing plan may also be based, at least in part, on the total number of customers in the group that become subscribers. Further, in order to reduce customer churn, customer discounts or other incentives may be applied toward the end of a subscription plan period. Further, subscriber discounts and/or credits may be banked in a subscriber account.

1 - 13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . A method for providing telecommunication services to subscribers in a customer group, the method comprising:
 receiving subscription requests from a plurality of subscribers in the customer group at a corresponding plurality of subscription times;   calculating credits for a particular subscriber of the plurality of subscribers based on a subscription time for the particular subscriber relative to the plurality of subscription times for the plurality of subscribers in the customer group; and   banking the credits in an account associated with the particular subscriber.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising:
 storing, in a database, information associating each of the plurality of subscribers with a corresponding subscription time. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising:
 transferring the credits from the account associated with the particular subscriber to another subscriber account. 
 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising:
 transferring the credits from the account associated with the particular subscriber to an account associated with a third party organization associated with the customer group. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the calculating credits for the particular subscriber of the plurality of subscribers is based on a number of subscription requests received after the subscription time for the particular subscriber. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the credits vest at the end of a plan period. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising:
 transferring the credits from the account associated with the particular subscriber to an account associated with a third party organization associated with the customer group prior to vesting. 
 
     
     
         21 . An apparatus comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory to store computer program instructions, the computer program instructions when executed on the processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 receiving subscription requests from a plurality of subscribers in the customer group at a corresponding plurality of subscription times; 
 calculating credits for a particular subscriber of the plurality of subscribers based on a subscription time for the particular subscriber relative to the plurality of subscription times for the plurality of subscribers in the customer group; and 
 banking the credits in an account associated with the particular subscriber. 
   
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , the operations further comprising:
 storing, in a database, information associating each of the plurality of subscribers with a corresponding subscription time.   
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , the operations further comprising:
 transferring the credits from the account associated with the particular subscriber to another subscriber account.   
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , the operations further comprising:
 transferring the credits from the account associated with the particular subscriber to an account associated with a third party organization associated with the customer group.   
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 21  wherein the calculating credits for the particular subscriber of the plurality of subscribers is based on a number of subscription requests received after the subscription time for the particular subscriber. 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 21  wherein the credits vest at the end of a plan period. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , the operations further comprising:
 transferring the credits from the account associated with the particular subscriber to an account associated with a third party organization associated with the customer group prior to vesting.   
     
     
         28 . A computer readable medium storing computer program instructions for providing telecommunication services to subscribers in a customer group, which, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 receiving subscription requests from a plurality of subscribers in the customer group at a corresponding plurality of subscription times;   calculating credits for a particular subscriber of the plurality of subscribers based on a subscription time for the particular subscriber relative to the plurality of subscription times for the plurality of subscribers in the customer group; and   banking the credits in an account associated with the particular subscriber.   
     
     
         29 . The computer readable medium of  claim 28 , the operations further comprising:
 storing, in a database, information associating each of the plurality of subscribers with a corresponding subscription time.   
     
     
         30 . The computer readable medium of  claim 28 , the operations further comprising:
 transferring the credits from the account associated with the particular subscriber to another subscriber account.   
     
     
         31 . The computer readable medium of  claim 28 , the operations further comprising:
 transferring the credits from the account associated with the particular subscriber to an account associated with a third party organization associated with the customer group.   
     
     
         32 . The computer readable medium of  claim 28  wherein the calculating credits for the particular subscriber of the plurality of subscribers is based on a number of subscription requests received after the subscription time for the particular subscriber. 
     
     
         33 . The computer readable medium of  claim 28  wherein the credits vest at the end of a plan period.