Verizon Pay-Per-Use Turbo Boost for Smartphones Will Give Extra Speed Amid Network Congestion

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Verizon is developing a network optimization technology that lets smartphone applications get a speed boost for a small additional fee whenever the network is congested, or when faster speeds are required. The so-called Turbo Boost technology will be available by 3rd quarter of 2012.

Verizon is planning to offer incremental and dynamic speed upgrades to smartphone users for a small fee on a  pay-as-you-go scheme. The telecoms company is currently developing a network API that can let smartphone applications turbocharge their connections when necessary, depending on their location and the current network load. With the said technology, a smartphone can dynamically secure more bandwidth for an application and pay for the speed boost through a micropayment scheme.

This was earlier announced by Verizon in September 2010, and the company has demonstrated the capabilities of the technology earlier this week, along with other location-based services in the works. With the demo, Verizon executives showed how a high-quality video stream can be delivered to a mobile handset even when the network is currently congested. At first, streaming video was choppy, but frame rate improved dramatically when the “turbo” button was activated.

Aside from buying small amounts of bandwidth boosts, though, Verizon is also hopeful that users and business establishments will catch on to its new micropayment technology. Retailers and stores can let users pay for goods using their mobile phone bills, which can simplify the purchasing process, and in effect turning one’s mobile phone into a mobile wallet even without additional financial institutions being involved.

For now, Verizon plans to open its speed boost technology to application developers, hoping that more users will adopt the technology if it is released unrestricted.