Implementing sponsored content in wireless data networks

Telecom service providers are increasingly looking to additional sources of revenue in order to cover the network infrastructure costs associated with the bandwidth explosion. One mechanism that has attracted attention is known as “sponsored content” and allows for content providers to sponsor their content and thereby make it free for end users. In this paper we examine some of the implementation and modeling issues associated with the design of a sponsored content system. In particular we present a general framework that assumes a set of users with an underlying desire to make a sequence of requests for certain content. Each content provider has the option to sponsor the content and therefore increase the chance that a potential view of the content will actually occur. A key feature of our model is that users pay for unsponsored content via the purchase of large monthly quotas.