US Patent 9787855 Billing engine and method of use

A wireless communication device associated with a mobile operator network transmits an authentication request for network access via a wireless access point (AP) using a transceiver other than the cellular network transceiver. Device authentication can occur directly with the mobile operator network or via a proxy server. Upon authentication, the requesting device may access a wide area network in a data off-load operational mode and the data flow to and from the device via the AP is monitored and reported to mobile operator network associated with the requesting device. The wireless communication device can communicate with any of a plurality of APs distributed in a venue during the data off-load operational mode.