Methods, apparatuses and computer program products for facilitating toll free data access
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- sending, via a communication device, a request to a network device requesting identification of one or more content providers that provide data to users in which the content providers pay for transmission of the data, accessed from the content providers, on behalf of users, the transmission of the data is free and is not data usage accrued by the users against a data plan of the users during a billing cycle or against a prepaid data plan of the users;
detecting, via a location detection device of the communication device, a geolocation comprising geo-coordinates of the communication device of a user;
receiving, via the communication device, an indication from the network device of at least one content provider, detected in a determined geographic area within a detected proximity of the detected geolocation of the communication device of the user, that pays for the transmission of the data, transmitted in the determined geographic area, on behalf of users in response to the network device receiving the request, in an instance in which the network device excludes one or more other content providers located outside the detected proximity, which conserves network resources, the at least one content provider is associated with visible indicia presented to a user interface of a display device of the communication device and (i) detecting user interaction with the visible indicia, by the user, and (ii) detecting a selection of the content provider, by the user from the visible indicia, via the user interface of the display device; and
determining, via a processor of the communication device, whether the content provider selected from the visible indicia in response to the received indication pays for the transmission of the data, accessed from the selected content provider prior to expiration of a predefined time period, to the users such that the transmitted data from the selected content provider is free and is not data usage accrued by the data plan of the users during the billing cycle or the prepaid data plan.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for facilitating toll free data access includes a processor and memory storing executable computer code causing the apparatus to at least perform operations including sending a request to a device requesting identification of one or more content providers that provide data to users in which the content providers pay for data, accessed from the content providers, on behalf of users. The accessed data is not considered data usage accrued by the users during a billing cycle or against a prepaid data plan. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to receive an indication from the device of a content provider(s) that pays for the provision of the data on behalf of users. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to determine whether a selected content provider pays for the provision of the data to users. Corresponding methods and computer program products are also provided.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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sending, via a communication device, a request to a network device requesting identification of one or more content providers that provide data to users in which the content providers pay for transmission of the data, accessed from the content providers, on behalf of users, the transmission of the data is free and is not data usage accrued by the users against a data plan of the users during a billing cycle or against a prepaid data plan of the users; detecting, via a location detection device of the communication device, a geolocation comprising geo-coordinates of the communication device of a user; receiving, via the communication device, an indication from the network device of at least one content provider, detected in a determined geographic area within a detected proximity of the detected geolocation of the communication device of the user, that pays for the transmission of the data, transmitted in the determined geographic area, on behalf of users in response to the network device receiving the request, in an instance in which the network device excludes one or more other content providers located outside the detected proximity, which conserves network resources, the at least one content provider is associated with visible indicia presented to a user interface of a display device of the communication device and (i) detecting user interaction with the visible indicia, by the user, and (ii) detecting a selection of the content provider, by the user from the visible indicia, via the user interface of the display device; and determining, via a processor of the communication device, whether the content provider selected from the visible indicia in response to the received indication pays for the transmission of the data, accessed from the selected content provider prior to expiration of a predefined time period, to the users such that the transmitted data from the selected content provider is free and is not data usage accrued by the data plan of the users during the billing cycle or the prepaid data plan. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
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send a request to a network device requesting identification of one or more content providers that provide data to users in which the content providers pay for transmission of the data, accessed from the content providers, on behalf of users, the transmission of the data is free and is not data usage accrued by the users against a data plan of the users during a billing cycle or against a prepaid data plan of the users; detect a geolocation comprising geo-coordinates of the communication device of a user; receive an indication from the network device of at least one content provider, detected in a determined geographic area within a detected proximity of the detected geolocation of the communication device of the user, that pays for the transmission of the data, transmitted in the determined geographic area, on behalf of users in response to the network device receiving the request, in an instance in which the network device excludes one or more other content providers located outside the detected proximity, which conserves network resources, the at least one content provider is associated with visible indicia presented to a user interface of a display device of the communication device, and (i) detecting user interaction with the visible indicia, by the user, and (ii) detecting a selection of the content provider from the visible indicia, via the user interface of the display device; and determine whether the content provider selected from the visible indicia in response to the received indication pays for the transmission of the data, accessed from the selected content provider prior to expiration of a predefined time period, to users such that the transmitted data from the selected content provider is free and is not data usage accrued by the data plan of the users during the billing cycle or the prepaid data plan. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:
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program code instructions configured to send, via a communication device, a request to a network device requesting identification of one or more content providers that provide data to users in which the content providers pay for transmission of the data, accessed from the content providers, on behalf of users, the transmission of the data is free and is not data usage accrued by the users against a data plan of the users during a billing cycle or against a prepaid data plan of the users; program code instructions configured to detect a geolocation comprising geocoordinates of the communication device of a user; program code instructions configured to cause receipt of an indication from the network device of at least one content provider, detected in a determined geographic area within a detected proximity of the detected geolocation of the communication device of the user, that pays for the transmission of the data, transmitted in the determined geographic area, on behalf of users in response to the network device receiving the request, in an instance in which the network device excludes one or more other content providers located outside the detected proximity, which conserves network resources, the at least one content provider is associated with visible indicia presented to a user interface of a display device of the communication device and (i) detecting user interaction with the visible indicia, by the user, and (ii) detecting a selection of the content provider from the visible indicia, via the user interface of the display device; and program code instructions configured to determine, via the communication device, whether the content provider selected from the visible indicia in response to the received indication pays for the transmission of the data, accessed from the selected content provider prior to expiration of a predefined time period, to the users such that the transmitted data from the selected content provider is free and is not data usage accrued by the data plan of the users during the billing cycle or the prepaid data plan. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification