Cellular telephone credit management

A user terminal (UT) with a managed cellular telephone network account, the UT comprising a processor and a memory, the UT comprising:

• a cellular subsystem executable by the processor having a wireless interface for registering the UT having a plurality of accounts in a cellular telephone network, wherein the UT is associated with a first party;
• and,
• an account module, executable by the processor having an interface for:
• selecting an account from the plurality of accounts;
• receiving a credit for a cellular network service;
• converting the credit to an account balance associated with the selected account;
• accessing the cellular telephone network service;
• creating a notification associating the cellular telephone network service with the selected account;
• sending the notification to the cellular telephone network;
• and
• debiting the account balance associated with the selected account.

A system for managing a cellular telephone network user terminal (UT) account, the system comprising:

• a UT comprising:
• a cellular subsystem having a wireless interface for registering the UT having a plurality of accounts in a cellular telephone network, wherein the UT is associated with a first party;
• an account module having an interface for:
• selecting an account from the plurality of accounts;
• receiving a credit for a cellular network service;
• converting the credit to an account balance associated with the selected account;
• an interface connected to the cellular subsystem for authorizing the cellular network service in response to the account balance;
• and,
• the account module further having an interface for:
• accessing the cellular telephone network service;
• creating a notification associating the cellular telephone network service with the selected account;
• sending the notification to the cellular telephone network;
• and
• debiting the account balance associated with the selected account;
• and
• a credit server having an Internet Protocol (IP) network interface operatively connected to the UT account module to supply the credit.

An apparatus comprising:

• means for registering a user terminal (UT) having a plurality of accounts in a cellular telephone network, wherein the UT is associated with a first party;
• means for selecting an account from the plurality of accounts;
• means for uploading a credit to the selected account for a cellular telephone network service;
• means for converting the credit to an account balance associated with the selected account;
• means for accessing the cellular telephone network service;
• means for creating a notification associating the cellular telephone network service with the selected account;
• means for sending the notification to the cellular telephone network;
• and
• means for debiting the account balance associated with the selected account.

A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, the computer readable medium comprising:

• code for causing at least one computer to register a user terminal (UT) having a plurality of accounts in a cellular telephone network;
• code for causing at least one computer to select an account from the plurality of accounts;
• code for causing at least one computer to upload a credit to the selected account for a cellular telephone network service;
• code for causing at least one computer to convert the credit to an account balance associated with the selected account;
• code for causing at least one computer to access the cellular telephone network service;
• code for causing at least one computer to create a notification associating the cellular telephone network service with the selected account;
• code for causing at least one computer to send the notification to the cellular telephone network;
• and
• code for causing at least one computer to debit the account balance associated with the selected account.