A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SECURELY ISSUING SUBSCRIPTION CREDENTIALS TO COMMUNICATION DEVICES

摘要

According to teachings presented herein, communication devices are conveniently provisioned with network subscription credentials after purchasing, without device manufacturer or network operators having to preload temporary subscription credentials or to otherwise make provisions for supporting direct over-the-air provisioning of the devices. Such devices may be, for example, cellular telephones or other mobile devices. Broadly, a user communicatively couples a communication device to be provisioned to an intermediate data device that has existing communication capabilities, e.g., a PC or already-provisioned mobile telephone. A subscription server or other entity then uses a communication link with the intermediate data device to provide subscription credentials to the communication device, subject to trusted-device and owner identity verifications.