Patent attributes
A method for providing a wireless telephone service includes providing a wireless handset having an associated telephone number, and a dedicated programmable wireless switch coupled to a public switched telephone network and a billing server. The handset communicates with the switch to place and receive calls to and from selected telephone numbers on respective ones of a secured list, and optionally, a dependent list. Two billing accounts are associated with the handset, a secured account having a password and the telephone numbers of the secured list associated with it, and a dependent account having a password and the telephone numbers of the dependent list, if any, associated with it. Completed incoming calls to or from the handset in which the telephone number of the caller or the number being called corresponds to a number of the secured and dependent lists are debited to the secured and dependent accounts, respectively, and calls to and from other numbers are billed to the dependent account.
