Implementing Sponsored Content in Wireless Data Networks

The concept of sponsored content, or "1-800-DATA", has recently received attention as a means to generate additional revenue for wireless data operators without requiring end users to pay more for the data they receive. If a content owner sponsors their content then whenever an end user accesses it the consumed bandwidth would not count against the end users data quota. The incentive for the content owner to do this is that the end user is more likely to visit the content (and each visit creates some value for the content owner). In this paper we survey many of the design choices that would need to be addressed if a system for sponsored content is to be widely deployed. For example, the content owner and the service provider could negotiate prices in an online fashion as user requests arrive or they could decide in advance how much content will be sponsored. We also discuss the different ways in which the end user could be informed that some content options are sponsored. Lastly, we describe the various networking issues that the service provider must solve in order to determine which transmitted bytes correspond to sponsored content and should therefore not count against the end user quota.