Managing a charging operation in a communication network

A method of operating a charging system configured to manage a charging operation in a communications network, the method comprising:

• generating a charging policy for providing content to a user equipment, UE, the charging policy specifying a division of a cost of providing the content to the UE between a vendor and a subscriber account associated with the UE, the vendor being separate from an operator of the communications network, wherein the vendor is a first vendor, and wherein generating the charging policy comprises generating a charging policy specifying a division of the cost of providing the content to the UE between the first vendor, a second vendor, and the subscriber account associated with the UE;
• determining that the UE has requested the content, wherein determining that the UE requested the content comprises receiving an identification of an offering for provision of the content, and wherein the indication of the offering comprises an indication of a least one of a Quick Response (OR) code and a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag;
• generating a charging entry for providing the content to the UE, the charging entry dividing the cost of providing the content to the UE between the vendor and the subscriber account, wherein generating the charging entry comprises attributing at least a portion of the cost of providing the content to the UE to the vendor and generating a charging entry that divides the cost of providing the content to the UE between the first vendor, the second vendor, and the subscriber account;
• and
• receiving information associated with the content, the information comprising an indication of a condition relating to charging the vendor for providing the content to the UE, wherein the condition comprises at least one of a geographical condition and a temporal condition.

A controller for managing a charging operation in a communications network, the controller comprising:

• processing circuitry;
• and
• memory coupled to the processing circuitry and having instructions stored therein that are executable by the processing circuitry to cause the controller to perform operations comprising:
• generating a charging policy for providing content to a user equipment, UE, the charging policy specifying a division of a cost of providing the content to the UE between a vendor and a subscriber account associated with the UE, the vendor being separate from an operator of the communications network, wherein the vendor is a first vendor, and wherein generating the charging policy comprises generating a charging policy specifying a division of the cost of providing the content to the UE between the first vendor, a second vendor, and the subscriber account associated with the UE;
• determining that the UE has requested the content, wherein determining that the UE requested the content comprises receiving an identification of an offering for provision of the content, and wherein the indication of the offering comprises an indication of a least one of a Quick Response (OR) code and a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag;
• and
• generating a charging entry for providing the content to the UE, the charging entry dividing the cost of providing the content to the UE between the vendor and the subscriber account, wherein generating the charging entry comprises attributing at least a portion of the cost of providing the content to the UE to the vendor and generating a charging entry that divides the cost of providing the content to the UE between the first vendor, the second vendor, and the subscriber account;
• and
• receiving information associated with the content, the information comprising an indication of a condition relating to charging the vendor for providing the content to the UE, wherein the condition comprises at least one of a geographical condition and a temporal condition.