An AT&T executive today revealed that his carrier is working on a service that'd allow app developers to pay for the data that consumers go through while using the dev's software. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, AT&T network and technology head John Donovan explained that the service would be like "800 numbers," meaning that devs could entice users to download their apps by making it so that the data used by the software doesn't count against a customer's monthly data allotment. Here's how Donovan broke it down:
"A feature that we're hoping to have out sometime next year is the equivalent of 800 numbers that would say, if you take this app, this app will come without any network usage."
There aren't many more details on the service outside of that, but Donovan did say that some companies have shown interest in it as a way to entice consumers to use data-hungry apps, like ones that involve music and video. AT&T's plan could be nice for consumers one as data tiers and throttling become more widespread, though it's possible that some devs would also end up passing the cost along to their users anyway. We'll have to wait to see which developers and content providers sign up for the service if and when it goes live to learn more. What do you all think of AT&T's plan?
