Service control apparatus, charging management server, service control method, charging information management method, and non-transitory computer readable medium

A charging management server comprising:

• at least one memory storing instructions, and
• at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to;
• receive, from a service control apparatus, identification information of at least one service providing apparatus whose communication pattern has been changed in accordance with a message for prompting a communication pattern to change that defines a timing of communication with a communication terminal, the at least one service providing apparatus being at least one of a plurality of service providing apparatuses that have received the message from the service control apparatus;
• and
• change a charging rate of the service providing apparatus specified using the identification information.

A service control method comprising:

• receiving, from each of a plurality of service providing apparatuses, a communication pattern that defines a timing of communication between each of the service providing apparatuses and a communication terminal;
• predicting, based on the plurality of communication patterns, a load of a network that performs data transmission between the communication terminal and each of the service providing apparatuses;
• and
• transmitting, when it is predicted that the load of the network will become higher than a predetermined threshold, a message for prompting the communication pattern to change to at least one of the plurality of service providing apparatuses.