Methods and apparatus to allocate bandwidth between subscribers of a communications network

A network service provider apparatus to allocate bandwidth between subscribers of a network service provider, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory including machine readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations including:
• projecting that a first network data usage of a first subscriber of the network service provider will exceed a first data allotment for a first network access account of the first subscriber within a time period;
• identifying a second subscriber of the network service provider who is included in a subscriber group with the first subscriber and projected to have a second network data usage that is below a second data allotment for a second network access account of the second subscriber within that time period, the second subscriber having a different billing address than the first subscriber;
• requesting assent from the second subscriber to transfer a portion of the second data allotment to the first subscriber;
• in response to receiving the assent from the second subscriber, transferring the portion of the second data allotment from the second network access account to the first network access account;
• storing an identification of the transfer in association with the first subscriber and the second subscriber;
• and
• at a second time after the time period, transferring a third data allotment from the first network access account to the second network access account, the third data allotment being equal to the portion of the second data allotment.

A tangible machine readable storage medium comprising machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause a processor of a network service provider to perform operations comprising:

• projecting that a first network data usage of a first subscriber of the network service provider will exceed a first data allotment for a first network access account of the first subscriber within a time period;
• identifying a second subscriber of the network service provider who is included in a subscriber group with the first subscriber and projected to have a second network data usage that is below a second data allotment for a second network access account of the second subscriber within that time period, the second subscriber having a different billing address than the first subscriber;
• requesting assent from the second subscriber to transfer a portion of the second data allotment to the first subscriber;
• in response to receiving the assent from the second subscriber, transferring the portion of the second data allotment from the second network access account to the first network access account;
• prior to the projecting, receiving a request from at least one of the first subscriber and the second subscriber to have the second subscriber included in the subscriber group;
• and
• storing a subscriber identifier of the second subscriber in association with the first subscriber in the subscriber group.