Verizon Wireless recently announced that it is launching the FreeBee Data 360 program. Under this new program, online content providers can pay a fee in order to get their services exempted from eating up precious user data caps.
In a statement acquired by Ars Technica, Verizon said, "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."
Additionally, all data that are used for ads can also be sponsored by the content provided that delivers the ads.
A similar sponsored data scheme was instituted by AT&T in January 2014. On the other hand, T-Mobile exempts certain music and video service from consuming user data caps, but it does not charging content providers for these kinds of exemption.
Data cap exemption has been the subject of several debates lately. Some content providers argue that the practice puts them in a slight disadvantage, especially against huge corporations that have the resources to bank roll the exemption fee.
For some people, data cap exemption violates the core essence of Net Neutrality. However, the Net Neutrality rules imposed by the Federal Communications Commission do not consider data caps or data caps exemptions as a violation.
The FreeBee Data program launched by Verizon does not support full length movies. As the description says, advertisers and businesses can "sponsor up to 30 seconds of mobile video streaming." Additionally, they can also sponsor up to 30 minutes worth of audio streaming.
Verizon said that the service will launch on Jan. 25. The company will institute a beta phase for the service and will involve AOL, Hearst Magazines and Lantern Softwares GameDay. The test phase will only involve 1000 Verizon subscribers.
Those who participate in the trial phase will see a bee logo above the links and videos that are supported by the FreeBee Data program. Once the logo appears on these links or videos, it means that users can access it without worrying about eating their data cap, according to Android Police.
Verizon is expecting to launch full commercial availability for the FreeBee Data program within the latter part of the year. The company is also encouraging other companies to participate on its trial period.