System and Method for Providing Broadband Wireless Access to a Network on a White Label Basis

Abstract

A method is disclosed for providing broadband communication services. The method comprises establishing a first entity which provides broadband wireless access to a network; and providing the broadband wireless access to a second entity on a white label basis through said first entity. The second entity distributes wireless mobile communications devices to third parties, and the wireless mobile communications devices are configured to establish broadband wireless access to the network through the broadband wireless access provided by the first entity to the second entity and under a private label applied by the second entity to the network access.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for providing broadband communication services, comprising:
 establishing a first entity which provides broadband wireless access to a network; and   providing the broadband wireless access to a second entity on a white label basis through said first entity;   
       wherein said second entity distributes wireless mobile communications devices to third parties, and wherein said wireless mobile communications devices are configured to establish broadband wireless access to the network through the broadband wireless access provided by the first entity to the second entity and under a private label applied by the second entity to the network access. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said first entity is an MVNO. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said first entity is an MNO. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said network is the Internet. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising limiting the network access to a single site on said network. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising limiting the network access to particular IP addresses, URLs, protocols, ports or domain names defined by the second entity. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising extending said broadband network access to other sites on the network on a subscription basis. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising extending said broadband network access to other sites on the network on a pay-per-use basis. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said pay-per-use basis is a function of connection time to said other sites. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said pay-per-use basis is a function of bandwidth used during connection to said other sites. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said pay-per-use basis is a function of connection time to said other sites. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said network access device is provided by a tenant of an MNVO, and wherein free access to the network is limited to sites on the network designated by the tenant. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of said mobile communications devices is equipped with a display and is provided with metered access to the network, wherein the network is equipped with a network-based program which causes a landing page to be displayed on said display, and wherein the landing page varies as a function of at least one item selected from the group consisting of (a) the region the host mobile communications device is located in, (b) the type of device the host mobile communications device is, (c) the tenant, (d) the device, and (e) the corporate sponsor. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of said mobile communications devices is equipped with a display and is provided with metered access to the network, and wherein free access to the network is limited to a predetermined start and end time. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of said mobile communications devices is equipped with a display and is provided with metered access to the network, and wherein free access to the network terminates in response to an action taken by the user. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein said action taken by the user includes clicking on a hot-link for access to a different website. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of said mobile communications devices is equipped with a display and is provided with metered access to the network, wherein the network is equipped with a network-based program which causes a set of icons to be presented on said display, and wherein each icon is hot-linked to a specific website. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the network-based program provides the user with free access to the network, and wherein said free access commences when the user selects a first icon from the set of icons. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of said mobile communications devices is equipped with a display and is provided with metered access to the network, wherein the network is equipped with a network-based program which provides the user with free access to the network, and wherein said free access is provided in response to an action taken by the user which is selected from the group consisting of (a) watching an advertisement; (b) filling out a survey; (c) clicking a link; or (d) referring others to a service. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of said mobile communications devices is equipped with a display and is provided with metered access to the network, wherein the network is equipped with a network-based program which provides the user with free access to the network, and wherein said free access is limited to a subset of said applications which has fewer members than the entire set of said applications. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of said mobile communications devices is equipped with a display and is provided with metered access to the network, wherein the network is equipped with a network-based program which provides the user with free access to the network, and wherein said free access is allowed for some communications protocols, but denied for others. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of said mobile communications devices is equipped with a display and is provided with metered access to the network, wherein the network is equipped with a network-based program which provides the user with free access to the network, and wherein said free access is allowed for http traffic and https traffic. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of said mobile communications devices is equipped with a display and is provided with metered access to the network, wherein the network is equipped with a network-based program which provides the user with free access to the network, and wherein said free access is denied for traffic based on at least one factor selected from the group consisting of port, IP address, URL and protocol. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, when the network is accessed by a browser, the browser is redirected to a service landing page utilizing a mobile broadband network. 
     
     
         25 . A system for providing broadband communication services, comprising:
 a first entity which distributes wireless mobile communications devices to consumers; and   a second entity which provides broadband wireless access to a network to said first entity on a white label basis;   
       wherein said wireless mobile communications devices are configured to provide broadband wireless access to the network through the first entity and under a private label applied by the first entity to the network access.