AT&T is trying to develop a new mechanism which will ensure that the cost associated with data traffic accessed through smartphone applications will have to be borne by the providers of the application. Speaking at the Mobile World Congress, John Donovan, the executive in charge of AT&T’s network and technology, described the company’s interest in implementing this new feature. He even went to the extent of comparing this proposed change with toll-free calling.
Carriers have recently been considering the concept of implementing different pricing models. Most of these models would obviously look for ways to make money out of increased mobile data usage. The approach to this idea may sound a little farfetched, but if this plan that AT&T proposes is implemented, it may even result in reduced profits for service providers. Whether developers themselves will consider this as a viable option remains to be seen. Donovan added that there was interest from many companies which could use this feature to attract customers who are wary of using data intensive services like video streaming. Although this plan is yet to be implemented by AT&T, the shift from unlimited data plans to ones that charge higher as consumption increases certainly suggests that this move might well come to be, even though it will charge the developers instead of the consumers.
There are a number of customer advocates who haven’t taken this proposal very well. These advocates argue that this move from AT&T would stifle competition and would require well established app developers to subsidize mobile customers’ data usage. On the other hand, by allowing companies to pay for better services for wireless customers AT&T could actually be bringing back the net neutrality debate that surfaced a few years ago. Net neutrality suggests that telecom companies should not be allowed to give special treatment to service providers. Doing so would deviate from the very idea of the internet, which focuses on the choice of a customer rather than piling something on him. Thus telecom companies are stressing on the need to have flexibility in order to manage traffic on their respective networks.
There have been several cases where prepaid telecom companies have suffered massive network outages and slowdowns due to customers on unlimited plans using video streaming services like YouTube. Most companies have discontinued such plans due to the burden they place on their network (Sprint is the only carrier still offering new unlimited plans). Whether AT&T gets the required approval from the concerned authorities to make this move is highly debatable, but it will definitely be in the interest of the user if this proposal does indeed come to fruition.
