Abstract

Rate charging rules and principles concerning mobile calls in a cellular communication system can be improved by providing the mobile station with a locator object which, at certain intervals, determines the cell in which the mobile station is currently located. Stored in the mobile station is a list of cells or areas in which a special rate is to be applied in charging for calls originating from the mobile station. The locator object monitors calls made from the mobile station and, when it detects that a call is being made, it determines whether the mobile station was in a denoted special rate area at the time that its location was most recently determined. If so, then the object informs the network that the call is entitled to the special rate. Since the last location function was executed just before call setup commenced, a special rate call is possible even if the mobile station has thereafter moved some distance into a cell applying a normal rate. Disposed in a billing center is a billing object, to which the locator object sends data indicating whether the call was initiated from a cell or area in which a special rate is applicable, as well as data identifying the particular call. The second object receives the billing records generated by the mobile switching center, which also contain call identifying data, and compares the call-specific data in those records with the data sent by the first object. In this way, the second object can identify from the billing records those calls that are entitled to a special rate, regardless of whether the mobile station has moved during call setup from the original cell into a cell where another rate, e.g. a higher rate, is applicable.