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"Most people have enough to worry about without micromanaging their smartphone use, but that\u2019s what it\u2019s come to for many device owners. To avoid exceeding a data cap, and incurring a costly penalty, many people try to meter their phone activities or resist the temptation to click on that Pandora app or YouTube link near the end of a billing cycle.  \nOpera Software, the provider of a popular mobile and desktop web browser, is developing an escape valve for this problem: an a la carte store for mobile apps and services with all the data you need included. The Norwegian company\u2019s eventual aim is to provide its technology to major mobile network operators exploring more flexible and customizable data plans.\n\u201CNow, when you\u2019re about to hit your [data] limit, there is no call to action,\u201D says Jeff Glueck, CEO of Skyfire, the Silicon Valley competitor that Opera announced it would acquire for $155 million this month to work together on the plan. \u201CYou have to essentially change your contract.\u201D\nThe idea is that a consumer could buy prepaid packages for data-intensive apps, like Spotify or Pandora; purchase data \u201Ctop-offs\u201D by the day or week as a plan runs low; and could opt to turn on file-compression services to make the most of the data they\u2019ve got.\nLaunched in November, the service is called Web Pass, and its first focus has been in emerging markets, where people commonly prepay for mobile service and are just getting their first device capable of bringing them online. The Malaysian operator DiGi is already using Web Pass to help convince subscribers getting their first 2G network devices to activate data service, says Opera senior vice president for business development Per Wetterdal.\nWeb Pass helps by making it clearer what customers are buying and easy for them to act with a click in an Opera Mini browser. While a megabyte of data is not \u201Ca human term,\u201D says Glueck, a day or week of Facebook is clear.\nThis Web Pass \u201C1.0\u201D version works only in Opera\u2019s browser, which is used by more than 200 million people a month, largely in the developing world. For the time a Web Pass is valid, the browser routes network traffic through Opera\u2019s virtual servers, which can compress the sizes of files to run on slower networks. Other companies like biNu and Blaast offer similar products \nSEE ALSO: Making \u2018Dumb\u2019 Phones Faster and Smarter\n\nA Web Pass \u201C2.0\u201D service targeted at U.S. and European markets is in the works but hasn\u2019t yet been scheduled for launch. It would offer mobile web access across an entire device, for any app or browser, says Wetterdal, and, like the current version, would require carrier partnerships.\nOne selling point to carriers is that it would also use Skyfire\u2019s video optimization technology, which can check whether the video a person requests on a device can be loaded, given the available network bandwidth. If it can\u2019t, say, in Times Square on New Year\u2019s Eve, Skyfire can compress the video before delivering the content or give a warning to the consumer before he tries to play it.\nToday, prepaid pricing is becoming more attractive to budget-conscious U.S. device owners; Glueck says a survey conducted by his company indicates that 10% to 20% of U.S. wireless customers have been charged for going over a data cap.\nThe time could be ripe for more \u201Csmart pricing\u201D innovations, says Chetan Sharma, an independent consultant to mobile companies, though he is skeptical that major carriers would work with an outside company like Opera rather than creating a more tailored service themselves. While wireless carriers like Verizon and AT&amp;T certainly make plenty of money from tiered data plans, they could respond if customers demand more flexibility, Sharma says.\nThere may also be new business opportunities for wireless carriers in a la carte data. Like 1-800 numbers or free airport Wi-Fi today, these companies have lately been exploring \u201Ctoll-free\u201D data models, in which content owners, developers or advertisers could pay Verizon or AT&amp;T for data charges on behalf of a given wireless customer. AT&amp;T CEO Randall Stephenson has talked in the last year about being interested in these revenue models.\nFor years, carriers have tried and failed to differentiate themselves by offering their own music stores and other services, says Wetterdal. The analytics that Opera\u2019s Web Pass offers would track how a customer is buying data for different apps or time periods. That data could allow operators to offer better promotions and even bundles of apps.\nImage courtesy of Flickr, CarbonNYC"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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