Verizon Wireless to offer bandwidth boost API in 2012

Verizon will publish an API that could allow consumers to "turbocharge" the network bandwidth their smartphone apps use for a small fee, executives said Tuesday. Verizon expects that a customer running an app on a smartphone will have the option to dynamically snatch more bandwidth for that app, if network congestion slows it down.

Users could have the option to pay for the extra bandwidth via a separate microtransaction API Verizon is developing and hopes to have in place by the end of 2012.

"I think one of the things that you could do is guaranteed quality of service," Hugh Fletcher, associate director for technology in Verizon's product development and technology team said. "One of the things that we are right now is very democratic in terms of allocating spectrum and bandwidth to users. And just because you request a high quality of service doesn't mean you're going to get it. [The network] will try to give it to you, but if there's a lot of congestion, a lot of people using it, it won't kick people off... I think you could anticipate that maybe you'll have a Skype call that starts going bad," Fletcher said. "Wouldn't you like to be able to hit the turbo button and have that come back up to be a good call?"

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