System and Method for Task Specific, Metered Bandwidth Control Within Shared Client Environment on Mobile Communications Platforms

Abstract

A communications system is provided which comprises (a) a platform having a plurality of tenants associated therewith, wherein each tenant has a set of mobile communications devices associated with it which has a plurality of members, wherein each mobile communications device in the set maintains an open connection to a communications network and is equipped with a graphical user interface (GUI); and (b) for each of the plurality of tenants, a group of offers selected by the tenant which are displayed on the GUI of each member of the set of mobile communications devices associated with that tenant.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A communications system, comprising:
 a platform having a plurality of tenants associated therewith, wherein each tenant has a set of mobile communications devices associated with it which has a plurality of members, and wherein each mobile communications device in the set maintains an open connection to a communications network and is equipped with a graphical user interface (GUI); and   for each of the plurality of tenants, a group of offers selected by the tenant which are displayed on the GUI of each member of the set of mobile communications devices associated with that tenant.   
     
     
         2 . The communications system of  claim 1 , wherein said platform is associated with a mobile network operator (MNO) or a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). 
     
     
         3 . The communications system of  claim 1 , wherein each offer is displayed as an icon on the GUI. 
     
     
         4 . The communications system of  claim 3 , wherein each icon is associated with a third party service provider and is hot-linked to at least one site associated with the third party service provider. 
     
     
         5 . The communications system of  claim 4 , wherein selecting the icon causes a page to be displayed on the mobile communications device which contains details of the offer. 
     
     
         6 . The communications system of  claim 1 , wherein each tenant has a plurality of mobile communications devices associated with it. 
     
     
         7 . The communications system of  claim 1 , wherein the communications network is a mobile network that provides access to the Internet. 
     
     
         8 . The communications system of  claim 1 , wherein the connection to the communications network is always available. 
     
     
         9 . The communications system of  claim 1 , wherein each mobile communications device within each set is a data only device. 
     
     
         10 . The communications system of  claim 1 , wherein the GUI of each device graphically depicts the amount of network connectivity remaining. 
     
     
         11 . The communications system of  claim 10 , wherein the amount of network connectivity remaining is measured as a function of time. 
     
     
         12 . The communications system of  claim 10 , wherein the amount of network connectivity remaining is measured as a function of data transfer. 
     
     
         13 . The communications system of  claim 1 , wherein each mobile communications device in the set has an instance of a client installed on it which maintains an open connection to a communications network, and wherein each client is equipped with a graphical user interface (GUI). 
     
     
         14 . A method for mobile communications, comprising:
 providing a platform having a plurality of tenants associated therewith, wherein each tenant has a set of mobile communications devices associated with it which has a plurality of members, wherein each mobile communications device in the set maintains an open connection to a communications network and is equipped with a graphical user interface (GUI); and   for each of the plurality of tenants, displaying, on the GUI of each member of the set of mobile communications devices, a group of offers selected by the tenant which are displayed associated with that tenant.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein said platform is associated with a mobile network operator (MNO) or a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein each offer is displayed as an icon on the GUI. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein each icon is associated with a third party service provider and is hot-linked to at least one site associated with the third party service provider. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein selecting the icon causes a page to be displayed on the mobile communications device which contains details of the offer. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein each tenant has a plurality of mobile communications devices associated with it. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the communications network is a mobile network that provides access to the Internet. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the connection to the communications network is always connected. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein each mobile communications device within each set is a data only device. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the GUI of each device graphically depicts the amount of network connectivity remaining. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the amount of network connectivity remaining is measured as a function of time. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the amount of network connectivity remaining is measured as a function of data transfer. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein each mobile communications device in the set has an instance of a client installed on it which maintains an open connection to a communications network, and wherein each client is equipped with a graphical user interface (GUI).