SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING SERVICES BASED ON BROADCASTED SYSTEM INFORMATION

A telecommunications system and method for enabling a subscriber to determine the current time period, e.g., peak or off-peak, for that subscriber based upon the broadcasted system date and time prior to answering or placing a call on a mobile terminal. The Mobile Station (MS), or a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card within the MS, can be programmed with the relevant time periods for that subscriber, e.g., dates and hours for peak and off-peak time periods. In preferred embodiments of the present invention, a time period application within the SIM card receives the system information from the air interface and compares it with the stored time period information associated with the subscriber to determine the current time period. The SIM card can then instruct the MS to display the current time period, along with the amount of air time usage associated with that time period.