Method and system for sponsoring data on a network

A device comprising:

• a processing system including a processor;
• and
• a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitates performance of operations comprising:
• determining whether a transmission from a client device that receives content from a media processor includes a first request to participate in a sponsored data session, wherein the first request comprises an address of the media processor;
• in accordance with the sponsored data session being requested:
• sending a second request to equipment of a sponsoring entity, wherein the second request comprises the address of the media processor and a telephone number of the client device, and wherein the equipment of the sponsoring entity performs an authorization procedure regarding the second request;
• responsive to the sending of the second request, receiving a list of data items available from the equipment of the sponsoring entity in the sponsored data session and a sponsored data session duration, wherein the list of data items includes an identification of an advertisement, and wherein the identification of the advertisement includes a uniform resource locator (URL);
• initiating the sponsored data session;
• transmitting the identification of the advertisement to the client device;
• assigning a unique identifier to each subsequent request of a plurality of subsequent requests received from the client device during the sponsored data session;
• determining whether a subsequent request of the plurality of subsequent requests corresponds to a data item on the list of data items and includes the URL;
• and
• responsive to the subsequent request corresponding to the data item and including the URL, causing a sponsored data rate to be applied to a client account for transfer of the data item.

A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations comprising:

• determining whether a transmission from a client device that receives content from a media processor includes a first request to participate in a sponsored data session, wherein the first request comprises an address of the media processor;
• in accordance with the sponsored data session being requested:
• sending a second request to equipment of a sponsoring entity, wherein the second request comprises the address of the media processor and a telephone number of the client device;
• responsive to the sending of the second request, receiving a list of data items available from the equipment of the sponsoring entity in the sponsored data session and a sponsored data session duration, wherein the list of data items includes an identification of an advertisement, and wherein the identification of the advertisement includes a uniform resource locator (URL);
• initiating the sponsored data session;
• transmitting, by the processing system, the identification of the advertisement to the client device;
• determining whether a third request, received from the client device during the sponsored data session, corresponds to a data item on the list of data items and includes the URL;
• and
• responsive to the third request corresponding to the data item and including the URL, causing the data item to be transferred to the client device free of charge.