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I agree that the operator needs to upgrade their existing 2G network to move to 3G and upgraded infrastructure is needed to handle Data based services however it is not that difficult though it is a challenge for the operators to transform their existing BSS/OSS set up.Prepaid billing system for 3G should be the same as it is for 2G now,the only difference being handling the data services (live gaming,TV,video conferencing on mobile)rather than the voice services.As with 2G prepaid billing system,you are not able to make any calls if the customer have the required balance,same will happen with the 3G prepaid billing ,the only difference being that it is data services here.To make 3G ,a customer experience the operators have to come up may be with different strategy for prepaid customers( may be giving selected customers some buffer time) where in even if the customer doesn't have enough balance on his 3G ohone,he can still use some data based services.

I share the sentiments expressed in this article and wish to stress a few additional points.
In handling the complexities inherent in 3G billing against 2G billing, operators and their solution providers must provide billing solutions that not only capture the values inherent in 3G services but also enhance customer experience via transparent billing solutions.This would be most critical as subscribers' mobiles are handed over from 2G to 3G base stations and vis versa.There could be multiple handovers within a single voice call or data session.The billing systems must be able to capture the values therein within such scenarios without alienating customer satisfaction.

Kelechi, Thats a very valid point. But, the transperancy of a billing solution could be limited if the operator is on a pakage based solution, depending on the flexibility of the package. There could be some cases where in the existing package is heavily customized and introduction of 3G may be quite an overhead to get the solution upgraded. Do you think this is a common scenario with many leading operators in your experience?

Sachin, I liked the example you mentioned. Its kind of going beyond the credit limit (like the overdraft facility in banks). These are the innovative ideas which will run through the operator's minds. Do you think such complex scenarios be handled out-of-the-box with the 2G billing systems? Can they handle a negative credit?

Based on Prasanth Article I am listing out all features that 3G can bring in
1) Voice call
2) Video call
3) Content download
4) Online gaming
5) Mobile TV

From my opinion rating should take care of all these in terms of generic units
i.e Rating based on

1) Time
2) Location
3) Volume
4) Numbers

Rating configuration should be flexible enough to support mix and match of above.
Once rating is done billing can be arrived at more easily. So I feel more than billing, if a operator has a convergent,flexible rating system, his 75% of the worries will be addressed and remaining 25% should be taken care by billing system

Prasanth, thanks for your response.
While i acknowledge the possibility of customized package based billing solutions, the importance of solutions that provide seamless, transparent billing from the perspective of the subscriber outweighs the customer service issues that arise from using a customised solutions that do not provide the simplicity that is a key to customer satisfaction.
In my experience, operators who have made success of 3G services have provided this transparency in billing.

In the light of your response to Sachin's comments, some operators of 2G networks have operated negative credits with a low caps (for obvious reasons!).This negative credit is deducted at the subscriber's next recharge interaction and an automated message generated and sent to the subscriber for transparency purposes.