Time to consider free-rating services?

k89bpa

I've been doing this via my provider for quite some time now and I know that some do it whilst others do not, (O2 used to free rate music streaming apps and still do for legacy customers, though not new customers).

Here's my data graph for this month so far...

As you can see, it's all mobile data, all the time and that cumulatively since my refresh data I'm running at 43.7GB used.

However, I have purchased add-ons to free rate some app/web usage so what does my provider say that I've used of my 50GB allowance in the same time span?

Just 10.1GB.

Now I'm not suggesting this is done for free, Three did that free rating Netflix and live TV streaming apps among other things and it absolutely trashed their network because they didn't have the capacity to cope with people suddenly using their phones to watch telly but I do think there is a market for paid add-ons.

I'm not sure which services at the moment, or what costs, I just wanted to throw the idea out there and see what comes back. Is unlimited usage of some services something you guys would be willing to pay additional fees for.

Would you for instance pay £3/mo for unlimited Spotify streaming?

I've just used Spotify because that was one of the apps Telefonica previously free-rated, and I personally don't think that's a very attractive app to include because other networks offer it, but how about £5-10/mo to stream as much as you want on BBC iPlayer, BBC media player and BBC radio player which no other network currently offers? Would that be something you might be interested in?

Obviously this thread is more for the higher data users than those who barely use their phones.

techiebloke

@k89bpa

It depends if giffgaff want to invest in traffic management that identifies and rate limits this kind of stuff or signs specific deals with providers to provide specific bit rate quality so that the infrastructure isn't overwhelmed.

As gg don't have a pay monthly base to fund this I don't it's likely to happen.

shabazmoqsud

@k89bpa wrote:

I've been doing this via my provider for quite some time now and I know that some do it whilst others do not, (O2 used to free rate music streaming apps and still do for legacy customers, though not new customers).

Here's my data graph for this month so far...

As you can see, it's all mobile data, all the time and that cumulatively since my refresh data I'm running at 43.7GB used.

However, I have purchased add-ons to free rate some app/web usage so what does my provider say that I've used of my 50GB allowance in the same time span?

Just 10.1GB.

Now I'm not suggesting this is done for free, Three did that free rating Netflix and live TV streaming apps among other things and it absolutely trashed their network because they didn't have the capacity to cope with people suddenly using their phones to watch telly but I do think there is a market for paid add-ons.

I'm not sure which services at the moment, or what costs, I just wanted to throw the idea out there and see what comes back. Is unlimited usage of some services something you guys would be willing to pay additional fees for.

Would you for instance pay £3/mo for unlimited Spotify streaming?

I've just used Spotify because that was one of the apps Telefonica previously free-rated, and I personally don't think that's a very attractive app to include because other networks offer it, but how about £5-10/mo to stream as much as you want on BBC iPlayer, BBC media player and BBC radio player which no other network currently offers? Would that be something you might be interested in?

Obviously this thread is more for the higher data users than those who barely use their phones.

@k89bpa by free rating do u mean that the app doesnt use any mobile data allowance? Like the giffgaff app is 0 rated.

I dont fully understand the idea can you explain?

I mean if networks allow that does that not mean its not good for them.

k89bpa

That's not what this thread is about @shabazmoqsud yes, that's exactly what I mean.

shabazmoqsud

@k89bpa wrote:

That's not what this thread is about @shabazmoqsud yes, that's exactly what I mean.

@k89bpa okay in that case i would say it would be perfect if social media apps wer 0 rated and any video streaming apps ie amazon prime netflix youtube etc

I guess that 0 rated apps services would be very attractive pulling point for networks to get more customers

k89bpa

@shabazmoqsud how much would you be willing to pay, (remember this is in addition to your goodybag), for unlimited access to all of those services?

As I said in the opening post, if it's free then it's going to cripple the network like it did to Three's network when they made video streaming free, so there has to be an additional cost to provide revenue for giffgaff to pay for the infrastructure to support it.

shabazmoqsud

@k89bpa wrote:

@shabazmoqsud how much would you be willing to pay, (remember this is in addition to your goodybag), for unlimited access to all of those services?
As I said in the opening post, if it's free then it's going to cripple the network like it did to Three's network when they made video streaming free, so there has to be an additional cost to provide revenue for giffgaff to pay for the infrastructure to support it.

@k89bpa ok i get i guess the additional cost would have to be reasonable a balance in the middle not to high so as to cripple the customer but not to low that the network makes a loss after all everyone has to make money to stay in business.

k89bpa

@shabazmoqsud so...how much would you be WILLING to pay?

(Please stop quoting everything, it's causing me to have to unnecessarily scroll through all my posts twice. Mentioning me is enough, lol)

shabazmoqsud

@k89bpa i guess if u add the value of the 2 highest goodybags to whatever goodybag u have

Ie say 10 goodybag and u want the service the additional cost say £20-£25

So between £30-35 pounds total or do u think that is too much i dont personally subscibe to online video streaming services so have no idea whats a good price to pay. My thinking is simple if i want to video videos online within giffgaff then i stick to the package i have and use wifi mainly to avoid running out or a buy a bigger goodybag say £20 goodybag where u get 21GB me personally i would struggle to use all that.

k89bpa

@shabazmoqsud there is no right or wrong answer to this, I'm genuinely only interested in what people honestly think in terms of apps and cost.

I really value your input, hopefully more people will add their thoughts too so that we can start to build up some kind of picture of how valuable such a facility would be to people.

glaswegianeric

@k89bpa As much as appealing service passes might be for an end-user, I personally am quite wary about such trends as they potentially threaten the principles of net neutrality.

k89bpa

@glaswegianeric also not what this thread is about but OFCOM have already stamped on that so net neutrality is no longer an issue.

techiebloke

Alrught then to answer to your question directly, I'd probably be willing to pay £6 a month for zero rated Spotify provided that included the spotify subs.

For example, I wouldn't want to have to pay spotify and then pay gg to zero rate the traffic but seeing as spotify premium is 9.99 a month I doubt Spotify would go for it.

joolzian

I wonder if the fact that those BBC apps require you to be a licence payer might prevent those specifically being free rated?

ashleybristoluk

i like this idea will. help few members