Patent ID: 9582816
Date: 2017-02-28
CPC Classifications: G06Q,H04L,H04M,H04W

Claim:
1. A method for providing access to sponsored data, wherein the method comprises: on-boarding a first mobile network operator (MNO) by transmitting an MNO-independent top level domain (TLD) from a first server to the first MNO, wherein the TLD is associated with sponsored data and is used by the first MNO to zero rate any data passing through the first mobile network that is associated with the address, and wherein, if any further MNOs are on-boarded, the first server transmits to said further MNOs the same MNO-independent TLD that was transmitted to the first MNO, thereby enabling said further MNOs to zero rate any data associated with the MNO-independent TLD to the extent such data is passim through respective networks of the further MNOs; on-boarding a first sponsor by transmitting a first unique identifier and the TLD from the first server to the first sponsor, wherein the first unique identifier and the TLD are concatenated, the first unique identifier as a pre-pend, generating a first fully qualified domain name (FQDN), and wherein the first FQDN is not provided to the first mobile network operator; monitoring, at a second server, usage of data associated with the first FQDN; and preparing, at a third server, a bill, wherein the bill is based on the monitored usage.