Thomas Sachson

Founding Member, Box Top Solutions

Subsidized Data Delivery Via "Toll-Free" Apps
19 minutes, 8.7mb, recorded 2011-06-29
Thomas Sachson

For many years, the delivery of books, pizzas, flowers and other merchandize has been free. Why not bandwidth? Why can't we deliver apps over the Web to their users (browsers or mobile) for free?

Facebook Zero has been an example in this space. But there haven't been many others.

Thomas Sachson says the solution is to take the delivery out of the carrier's network and instead push the app on to the client device of the consumer, whether it be PC, tablet or desktop or their handheld phone or device. The app can auto-monitor its usage and send statistics to the carrier. This makes it cost-effective for the carrier to make the bandwidth allocation for that application free or subsidized.

This model will even enable smaller players to provide content and bid for bandwidth and have their apps delivered to their users for free. If the revenue from an app makes it financially unviable, it'll still be easier to pull out the app from the marketplace without any involvement of the carrier.

Carriers have network issues of their own and this model doesn't saddle them with the intermediation for billing for bandwidth.

Also, current broadband penetration rates are still low in many regions because consumers don't want to pay premium for bandwidth.

The proposed model is a win-win for all players -- OEM, retailers, carriers, content providers and the users.


Thomas Sachson is a founding member of Box Top Solutions, a Silicon Valley broadband software start-up that creates “FreeBand” applications.  Prior to Box Top, Mr. Sachson worked as both an executive and advisor to various technology companies, including Ikanos Communications, Silicon Microstructures, ELMOS Semiconductors, HP, Logitech, Socket Mobile, ARC Cores, and Wolfson Microelectronics, as well as an investment banker for WestLB Panmure and Merrill Lynch International in London.

Mr. Sachson received his B.A. in Economics from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Resources

This free podcast is from our Emerging Communications series.

For The Conversations Network: