Lebara will trade you data for watching ads

Lebara Mobile will offer customers 2GB of bonus data each month if they agree to watch ads after unlocking their phone.

Lebara Plus is a new plan add-on which aims to offer plan bonuses to customers who agree to watch advertisements on their phones. In partnership with Aussie start-up Unlockd, the new advertising service can be installed as an app on Android-powered phones and will play an ad roughly one-third of the times a user wakes their phone up. The ads are skippable, and there is no requirement to watch the ads, plus, users can opt out of the service at any time.

In return, Lebara will add 2GB to your monthly mobile bill each month — valued at about $20. Customers need to be on a $20 plan or higher to be eligible to join the program and the telco has also hinted that it will soon offer an option to receive a discount off your monthly bill rather than bonus data.

Is this what the future holds?

This could be great news for heavy data users. Lebara Mobile already offers a number of plans with generous data inclusions, but an extra 2GB will also be welcome. Especially if you can skip as many ads as you like and still receive the bonus.

The concept is similar to a new initiative by U.S. telco Sprint which now offer bonus data to customers who use an app to fill in surveys and make purchases from advertises. Sprint subscribers earn data in increments — say, 100MB for a purchase, or 25MB for downloading an advertiser’s app — and all bonus data is accrued in the Sprint app. When customers need the data they can transfer up to 1000MB per month to their account.

All things considered, the Lebara Plus version of this concept seems much better. The exchange for watching ads is much more transparent and users don’t need to engage with advertising if they don’t want. Sprint customers, on the other hand, will end up feeling like they have a second job with all they’ll need to do to earn their rewards.

Joseph Hanlon

Editorial Director | X | LinkedIn

Joe Hanlon has been immersed in mobile phones, plans and the internet for over a decade, having written for publications like CNET, Techradar, Gizmodo and Lifehacker. He steers the editorial ship and makes sure that we are always serving up the most useful guides and recommendations. If you ever bump into Joe on the street, don't be afraid to ask for a phone recommendation. It's embarrassing how much he enjoys talking about this stuff. He also loves listening to podcasts, so feel free to email Joe with recommendations.

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