Verizon Rolls Out Sponsored Data Service In Beta

FreeBee Data 360 allows content providers to sign up to provide consumers some or all of their mobile content, without using up their data plan, Verizon said.

Verizon says FreeBee will help brands forge stronger ties with consumers, while customers will get access to mobile content without having to pay for it.

Verizon on Tuesday became the latest USA telco to try out sponsored data services.

Verizon outlined some examples of sponsored data, including 30-second ads promoting a movie, a trailer for a new app, promotional links for purchases, and mobile downloads from an app store. It will also go a step further by allowing Verizon customers to also use specific apps or websites in addition to streaming music and video.

Starting January 25, Hearst Magazines, Gameday and Verizon-owned AOL will sponsor some mobile content for 1,000 test subscribers. Both are “open to any content provider”, the carrier said. And Verizon isn’t the first USA operator to foray into zero-rated data: AT&T (NYSE: T) continues to experiment with toll-free data through the Sponsored Data program it announced in early 2014, and T-Mobile provides zero-rated (but not sponsored) video through its Binge On offering.

“In today’s digital economy, FreeBee Data is a departure from the one size fits all approach to marketing”, explained Colson Hillier, VP for consumer products at Verizon.

One could also argue that Verizon’s customers are already paying for the amount of data they consider necessary, and therefore giving companies the option to cover the cost could be seen as charging two parties for the same data.

This will, no doubt, be a bonus for a lot of mobile users but still doesn’t sit well with me.

Advertisers can pay for customers to access certain content – such as an application or website – on a per-gigabyte basis, or per-click basis. That’s just like when you dial an 800 number – the company you’re dialing pays for the call, not you.

AT&T has been testing a sponsored data program for quite a while now, and today the US’s other major carrier has started doing it, too.