Verizon API To Give Apps 'Turbo' Bandwidth Boost

Tiguere · Thread Author #1 11-04-2011, 06:13 PM

Verizon will publish an API that could allow consumers to "turbocharge" the network bandwidth their smartphone apps use for a small fee, executives said Tuesday.

Verizon anticipates that a customer running an app on a smartphone will have the option to dynamically snatch more bandwidth for that app, if network congestion slows it down, said Hugh Fletcher, associate director for technology in Verizon's Product Development and Technology team. The app, however, must be running what Verizon referred to as the network optimization API it is currently developing, and hopes to publish by the third quarter of 2012.

Users could have the option to pay for the extra bandwidth via a separate microtransaction API Verizon is developing and hopes to have in place by the end of 2012, Fletcher said.

Verizon API To Give Apps 'Turbo' Bandwidth Boost | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

This actions is precisely why Verizon wanted mobile data to be exempt from net neutrality. How miserable it would be for the electric company to prioritize the electricity to whoever was willing to pay the most, or charge for certain uses more. That is what Verizon wants to do. They couldn't do this if there was true competition in the market - and this is why the T-Mobile / AT&T merger really should not happen.