Patent ID: 8832799

Claim:
A method in a portable electronic device of authenticating enhanced wide area network data usage capabilities, comprising: establishing data communication between a communication device of the portable electronic device and a wide area network; and detecting commencement of a dual-operating system hybrid environment on one or more processors of the portable electronic device, wherein the dual-operating system hybrid environment comprises: a first operating system environment operable to communicate with the wide area network at a restricted data rate; and a second operating system environment operable to communicate with the wide area network at either the restricted data rate or an enhanced data rate; after the detecting, verifying whether the portable electronic device is authorized to communicate with the wide area network at the enhanced data rate; and where the verifying indicates the portable electronic device is authorized to communicate with the wide area network at the enhanced data rate, configuring, with the one or more processors, the second operating system environment to communicate with the wide area network at the enhanced data rate.