Verizon has debuted their new “FreeBee Data” service, which allows companies to pay for a Verizon user’s data when they are accessing the company’s content.
The FreeBee Data service has two models. With FreeBee Data 360, content providers can sign up to provide consumers some or all of their mobile content – whether in an app or mobile website – without using consumers’ data plans. FreeBee Data 360 is billed using a per gigabyte pricing model.
Alternatively, content providers can sponsor specific consumer actions on a per-click basis, free of data charges for subscribers – including mobile video clips, audio streaming, and app downloads.
The new sponsored data plan will let companies sponsor up to 30 seconds of mobile video streaming, up to 30 minutes of mobile audio streaming, the download of an app, or data used by a mobile website or app.
FreeBee Data 360 is available on a beta basis beginning today, interested content providers can use this service to sponsor data for all of Verizon’s post-paid customers. A separate beta of the per-click service will begin January 25. A number of brands are already signed up for the per-click service, including: Hearst Magazines, AOL and GAMEDAY. They will sponsor selected mobile content for 1,000 test subscribers. Wide commercial availability of the service is expected later this year.
