Importance

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Abstract

A telecommunications system and method for providing access to the Internet on a pre-paid or pay-per-use basis that utilizes an Advanced Intelligent Network ('AIN') to set up a dial up connection between a subscriber and an Internet Service Provider ('ISP'). The telecommunications system communicates with the ISP's computer systems to coordinate verification of callers attempting access to the ISP. The system uses features of the AIN to identify a call as a pre-authorized call so that the ISP grants access without requiring a username and a password from a caller. If the ISP receives a call that is not so identified, the caller is treated as regular ISP subscriber, and requires a username and a password to authenticate the caller prior to granting access to the ISP's resources. The present invention further utilizes the telephone service provider's billing systems to aggregate bills and collect revenue from subscribers. A portion of the revenue is retained by the telephone service provider as a fee for providing the service, and a portion is paid to the ISP as payment for its services.

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First Claim