Multiple service provider prepaid wireless service card

#Copyright, DataWave® Systems Inc., 2002 all rights reserved. A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection by the laws of the United States and of other countries. As of the first effective filing date of the present application, this material is protected as unpublished material. However, permission to copy this material is hereby granted to the extent that the copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentation or patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

#This invention generally relates to the field of prepaid wireless communication services.

#Prepaid wireless services such as prepaid cellular telephone service provide cellular telephone customers with a convenient method of budgeting their use of a cellular telephone. Instead of signing a long-term contract with a cellular service provider, after acquiring a cellular telephone the customer simply purchases a prepaid card at a retail point of sale for a desired amount of cellular telephone time or service. Upon purchasing, the cellular service provider enables the additional time or service associated with the customer's cellular telephone.

#FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a prepaid wireless communication system having multiple service providers operating in accordance with the present invention.

#FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a process operating in accordance with the present invention.

#FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a prepaid wireless communication system having multiple service providers operating in accordance with the present invention. A customer 100 is a user of a wireless device 110. The wireless device may be a cellular telephone having a telephone number 112 allowing conversations between the customer 100 and other associates through the public switch telephone network (PSTN) 120. The phone number 112 provides no obvious indication as to which service provider is providing wireless services to the customer. The PSTN has evolved to provide for conversations between persons having only a wired telephone connection. Service provider 122 provides a wireless connection between the PSTN and a multiplicity of wireless devices including customer device 110 thereby enabling wireless devices to also realize the benefit of PSTN communications. With the proliferation of wireless protocols and radio frequency spectrum licensing, numerous wireless protocols and wireless service providers may be provided in any given area. A second service provider 124 provides similar wireless services. Current wireless protocols include AMPS, IS-95, GSM, GPRS, CDMA-1, CDMA 2000, CDPD, and 3G to name a few and all provide for wireless connection between a wireless device and the PSTN via a wireless service provider. An array of service providers have also arisen to provide wireless services using the various protocols and include AT&T, Verison, Sprint, VoiceStream and Nextel, to name a few. Wireless device 110 preferably functions as a telephone, but may also function as a combination voice and data device or a data only device such as a wireless Palm Pilot or hybrid wireless telephone combined with a personal organizer or computer.

#The wireless device 110 is a prepaid wireless service device receiving wireless services from the first service provider 122. The first service provider monitors the amount of service used by the wireless device 110 and terminates the service when the amount of service used substantially equals or exceeds the amount of prepaid service associated with the device. In order to obtain the wireless service, customer 100 has a prepaid wireless service card 130 that indicates an amount of time 132 of service associated with the card. The card preferably has a credit card form factor that is rectangular plastic and conveys various types of information. For example, a time on the card may indicate that the card provides for one hundred minutes of wireless services. The card also displays an array of marks or names of several service providers associated with the card including the first and second service providers, 134 and 136. Thus, the prepaid wireless service time 132 may be applied to any of the listed service providers 134-136. The prepaid card 130 also has an account number 138 and a personal identification number (PIN) 140 that serve to uniquely identify the prepaid card and deter theft or other improper transfers of the card and its corresponding prepaid service. The account number is preferably both readable by the purchaser as a printed number and readable by a machine as a magnetic stripe or barcode.

#Prepaid card 130 is preferably purchased by customer 100 at a point of sale (POS) 145. The POS is preferably a retail outlet having a kiosk for displaying and distributing a multiplicity of prepaid cards. For example, a kiosk may be a display stand having hooks for dispensing prepaid cards set upon or close to a checkout counter. Example retail outlet types include grocery stores, discount stores, department stores and convenience stores. Note that the prepaid cards may also be branded with the mark of the retail outlet, thereby facilitating additional customer goodwill and loyalty. The POS also has a prepaid card reader 148 and a cash register 149. A barcode reader may be used to both read the price from the card in order to facilitate payment of the card and read a barcode having account number 138 in order to facilitate activation of the prepaid service. When the price of the purchase transaction is determined, consideration is transferred from the purse 150 (or equivalent) of the customer to the cash register 150. Consideration may be cash, check credit or other form of payment. In response, the wireless service time 132 uniquely associated with prepaid card 130 is activated. Prior to the exchange of consideration and activation, the card has no value, this deters theft or other improper transfer of the card and its corresponding services from the retail point of sale and distribution channels prior thereto.