Method And Apparatus For Measuring Distinctions Between Pre-paid vs. Post-paid Customer Base And Market Share For Wireless Communication Service Products

Methods and systems are provided for determining customer distinctions for one or more wireless communication service providers. Determinations are drawn from a sampling of telephone numbers that have been determined to be assigned by wireless service provider(s) (to its/their customers) and are employed to determine whether the assigned number is assigned to a pre-paid "customer" or a post-paid "subscriber" of the carrier(s). A message is sent to the telephone number and the response is interpreted to determine whether that assigned number is assigned (by the carrier) to a pre-paid customer or a post-paid subscriber. Alternatively, a sampling of telephone numbers from one or more service providers are sent messages to determine pre-paid customer/post-paid subscriber ratios of these carrier(s), based upon a preset numbering scheme that differentiates between the two categories (pre-paid "customers" vs. post-paid "subscribers"). Alternatively, once a number is determined to be assigned by a carrier, a determination as to whether that number is assigned to a pre-paid customer or a post-paid subscriber is performed through inquiries into the service provider's customer database/billing records.