Service Provider Initiated Hot Change of Access Network Facilitated by Trusted Third Party

A new vision is presented in this paper* allowing a service provider to change an access network, currently utilized by a mobile user (consumer), in the middle of an active service session in case of unsatisfactory network performance. The change is facilitated by trusted 3<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">rd</sup> Party Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (3P-AAA) entities and trusted 3<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">rd</sup> Party Charging and Billing (3P-C&B) entities, operating under a single administration, within a new type of wireless environment established on the consumer-based techno-business (CBM) model, which enables loose dynamic, and even casual, associations between consumers and service/network providers for using their respective services. The main technological innovations needed to support this vision are explained, along with outlining the corresponding techno-business implications.