AT&T Plans To Give Users A Free Ride But Only For Certain Content

(6:59 am PDT, Jun 4th 2012)

AT&T Plans To Give Users A Free Ride But Only For Certain Content

AT&T "toll free" plans will provide free access to some online content

Unlimited data plans are becoming scarce options for smartphone and tablet users. Sprint remains the only carrier to offer an unlimited data plans. Most Verizon and AT&T customers, however, need to make do with tiered data plans. Tiered data plans get more cash from customers and deter customers from overloading mobile networks with excessive data use.

As a result, a lot of us try to avoid excessive data use by limiting the types and amount of content that we access when using a device’s 3G or LTE connection. That, in turn, blocks many content companies from capturing ad or subscription revenue from mobile users. That reality is leading major content companies to complain to the carriers and which AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson recently said may lead to “toll free” data plans.AT&T Plans To Give Users A Free Ride But Only For Certain Content

Speaking on Friday at the Sanford Bernstein Strategic Decisions conference, Stephenson pointed out that many content companies are willing to pay AT&T and other carriers to deliver content to customers that doesn’t get charged to their data plan.

That means that streaming certain sitcoms, sporting events, or other content won’t push you closer to your data cap. Similarly using specific Internet services like Facebook or Google+ (or even Google’s full range of services) could be made “toll free” and encourage significant mobile market share to a handful of companies as a result. The model could even be made app-specific with certain Android or iOS  apps getting a free ride. That could change some app buying dynamics and deliver more users to large app development firms rather than individual or part-time developers.

AT&T is expecting to roll out these new plans alongside its existing tiered plans within the next year. Verizon and T-Mobile have said that they’re considering such options but haven’t made any announcements.

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Comment »

  • Justin Ruess

    Wait, wasn’t Comcast hammered by “Net Neutrality” folks for something similar to this a year ago? Basically giving preferential treatment to content for companies that have the most money to spend on it. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/gregorywalsh74 Gregory Walsh

    Do people actually believe this bs. This is an organized effort to direct the flow traffic through propaganda controlled corporations. I do give credit though. It’s bloody brilliant

  • http://twitter.com/koithefish Ajay Menon

    Please call it what it is – this is AT&T saying “screw you Net Neutrality”.

  • Rob Bowers

    Seems to me, this is the exact opposite of Net Neutrality in which service providers proposed to charge more for access to certain services, or to block or restrict certain services.

    It seems a brilliant solution, and could well pave the way to elimination of Cell Phone and landline TV service in favor of IP based services which can run over any data network. It could put the landline (Cable/DSL) and Wireless (3G/4G) carriers on a more even competitive position and give consumers more choices. It will also push landline (Cable/DSL) carriers to add ubiquitous WiFi or 4G to supplement the landline service in order to compete with the wireless carriers. 

    It greatly simplifies what the Service Provider has to track. The carrier offers you the option to subscribe through their App Store and thus a fee structure can be monetized with all parties. You can bet VoIP, IPTV and other services will charge for some of the stuff that is free today, but then you can drop the more restrictive services that these replace.

    It won’t necessarily be less costly to consumers, but will simplify the hodgepodge of services and provide a more universal network from which to consume these services.

    • DilbertAsended

      That’s why mobile was left out Netnutrality.

      Government bought wholesale with Google and AT&T for offering.

  • http://twitter.com/davester13 D R

    I wonder how soon the first class action lawsuit will happen over the fact that AT&T will wind up “accidentally” double-charging for data [charging both the end-user and the business]?

  • FrillArtist

    What a bunch of BS.

About the author

Ryan FaasRyan Faas is a technology journalist and consultant living in upstate New York who has written extensively about business and enterprise IT, and the mobile industry. In addition to writing for Cult of Android, he is a contributor to Computerworld, InformIT, and Peachpit Press. In a previous existence he was a healthcare IT director as well as a systems and network administrator. Follow Ryan on Twitter and Google +.

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