CELLULAR MOBILE RADIO CREDIT CARD SYSTEM

Cellular mobile telephone stations which are intended for installation and use in public transportation facilities, e.g., taxicabs, limousines, rental cars, etc. are equipped to support credit card billing of transient customers for use of the station services. The cellular pay stations, from the viewpoint of the serving cellular carrier facilities, are indistinguishable from standard cellular mobile stations. The activities of the credit card stations are supported by an administrative processor which is connected to a standard telephone line of the public switched telephone network. The cellular stations and the administrative processor exchange data messages over a standard telephone connection. The data messages are used to establish operating options and parameters of the credit card mobile stations, compile records in the administrative processor to permit the assignment of billing responsibility to transient customers for use of the stations and connected facilities, and control the stations for administrative and commercial reasons.