@Nauv
I think the worry for investors is that we ask ourselves "Would I use this service?"
The reality is, many here are relatively well off (have savings to invest in spec stocks), compared to the target market of sponsored data. If you can easily afford a $50 to $100 monthly mobile plan, without a second thought, then you are not in the target market for sponsored data.
However, there are many who are unwilling or unable to pay over $50 for a monthly mobile plan. The article below shows just how many American workers and families are struggling. While the numbers are now 1.5 years old, wage growth will definitely not keep up with mobile consumption growth/demand, there will be a large proportion of the US who want to consume additional mobile services, but cannot afford to. 102 million working age Americans do not even have a job, while 51 percent of actual workers made less than $30,000. There is definite opportunity for sponsored data in the US for that subset of the population.
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While unlimited data plans are somewhat of a risk in terms of sponsored data not being a requirement for users, consider use case scenarios. With 4k mobile phone screens being released in 2017, some users will want to watch streaming video on high quality settings. High quality streaming will use between 1 and 3 Gb per hour. At that rate it does not take much viewing each day to reach the point at which steaming becomes capped.
Tech also has a habit of continually requiring more as higher limits are made available (RAM/HDD etc). As unlimited plans become more prevalent, content providers (and advertisers) will find ways of using more data such as more augmented reality games and interactive HQ ads and videos, as well as higher quality streams of music and video.
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Then there is the infamous case of the Telstra user downloading for the sake of downloading on their data free day in 2016. What is a true unlimited plan if this is possible?
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Telcos have to balance a point at which attracting new users and reducing churn with increasing data limits, is offset by the increasing CAPEX and reduced ARPU. It is unlikely that it is possible to offer affordable unlimited plans to all subscribers in the USA pre-2020 (widespread 5G adoption point) while satisfying the profit margins that shareholders require of telcos.
