Method and apparatus in a telecommunications system

Abstract

The present invention relates to methods for providing access independent global roaming between heterogeneous networks. The invention solves this problem and provides policy enforcement and service transparency when terminals roam between different heterogeneous networks, By providing a policy enforcement point associated with the terminal, and by concerning the transport mechanism between terminals and servers as a packet pipe, adding no extra value except transport and Quality of Service classification thereof. The payment for access and services can be separated and access may be paid in real-time by an anonymous payment method. In accordance with the invention, the terminal becomes more like a personal profile manager, managing rights to services and access. The ability to purchase access opens the possibility for the terminal to act as an e-commerce platform, and the subscriber can access any network any time since access is paid for in real time.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.