Implementing effective and reliable framework for usage-based billing

Value added broadband services are increasing in number and variety. Most broadband service operators provide all for a flat monthly fee, whether a user uses the full bandwidth all day long or just glimpses a few lines of news during the day. Furthermore, the fact that installed xDSL base subscribers have reached almost peak point stimulates broadband operators to develop a new paradigm of bandwidth utilization. Another inevitable reason for this paradigm shift is that broadband operators cannot guarantee fixed bandwidth any more against the explosive growth of usage rate. Because there are limited network resources, the effective bandwidth available to each subscriber totally depends on the bandwidth consumed by other subscribers. To overcome these limitations and give more flexibility and efficiency to the communication facility, we consider usage-based billing (UBB). UBB means the price for the subscriber is measured by usage in terms of amount of time or data. Against a flat fee policy, UBB relieves the burden of the monthly price for subscribers whose average usage rate is under bandwidth.