The controversial Open Internet Order of 2015 (known on the street as “Net Neutrality”) is probably going to be rolled back or ignored under the incoming Trump administration, but with a few days left under the existing FCC leadership, the agency has decided to chime in with its conclusion that AT&T’s decision to not ding its wireless subscribers for accessing DirecTV Now streaming video probably runs afoul of regulations and may ultimately harm competition and consumers. [More]
binge on
FCC Pointlessly Concludes AT&T’s Free Data For ‘DirecTV Now’ Probably Violates Net Neutrality
By 1.11.17 — Updated: 1.12.17
T-Mobile Will Sell One-Day “HD Passes” For $3; Unlimited HD Passes For $25/Month
By 8.29.16
Earlier this month, T-Mobile announced it was doing away with multiple data plans. Instead, its new T-Mobile One plan sells voice, data, and text messaging for a single price — with the condition that the speed of the video content streamed to your phone is automatically capped so that it’s not full HD. Now the company that just did away with tiers of service is… introducing a new tier of service: T-Mobile One Plus. [More]
YouTube Stops Complaining About T-Mobile’s Binge On, Joins Program
By 3.17.16
Remember all those years ago, when YouTube publicly railed against T-Mobile’s Binge On program, saying the wireless company may have violated FCC rules by throttling all video traffic? And then it led to a war of words, culminating in the T-Mobile CEO cursing out his critics on Twitter and accusing the Electronic Frontier Foundation of taking money from his competition? That was only a matter of weeks ago, but it’s all water under the bridge because YouTube has agreed to be part of Binge On after T-Mo made changes to give content companies more control over streaming quality. [More]
T-Mobile Offers Free MLB.tv Subscription To Promote Streaming, Draw Customers
By 3.16.16
Baseball season begins in a few weeks, so why not use it as an opportunity to sell some mobile phone plans? You might not see the direct connection there, but T-Mobile does: they’re offering free subscriptions to the MLB’s all-team streaming service to their customers to promote baseball and their Binge On exemptions for selected streaming video services. [More]
Stanford Law Professor: T-Mobile’s ‘Binge On’ Violates Net Neutrality Rules
By 1.29.16
Last fall, T-Mobile introduced Binge On, an optional program that lets users stream certain video streams without counting the data against their monthly allotments. YouTube and others have accused the company of throttling data in order to make this happen, and a new report from Stanford University claims that T-Mo’s actions are in violation of federal “net neutrality” rules. [More]
T-Mobile Adds Amazon Video To Binge On, Claims Users Are Streaming Twice As Much
By 1.28.16
Three months after launching its Binge On streaming streaming video program, which doesn’t count content from certain partners against a customers’ monthly data allotment, T-Mobile has made new deals with Amazon and others to include their content. Additionally, the company claims that Binge On has doubled the amount of video its customers are watching. [More]
T-Mobile CEO John Legere Sorry For Cursing Out Critics On Twitter
By 1.11.16
Last week, T-Mobile CEO John Legere went on Twitter to post video responses to questions about his company’s Binge On program. While the rabble-rousing exec is often applauded for his plainspoken demeanor, he was roundly criticized for cursing out one pro-consumer group that has been critical of his company. After a few days to think about it, Legere is now apologizing. [More]
T-Mobile CEO John Legere To Critics Of Binge On: “Who The F**k Are You?”
By 1.7.16
Earlier today, I predicted that there would be further slinging of words between T-Mobile and critics of its Binge On video streaming program. What I didn’t know at the time was that T-Mo CEO John Legere would go on Twitter to respond to, and profanely insult, those critics. [More]
T-Mobile Execs Say YouTube Is “Absurd” For Complaining About Downgraded Video Quality
By 1.7.16
The war of words between T-Mobile and YouTube continues, with executives from the wireless company claiming it’s “absurd” that the streaming service should care so much about T-Mo downgrading the quality of YouTube videos. [More]
T-Mobile Denies “Throttling” YouTube, Says Video Is “Mobile Optimized”
By 12.30.15
Right before Christmas, YouTube publicly called out T-Mobile’s Binge On streaming program for allegedly slowing down all video content, potentially in violation of new federal “net neutrality” rules. Now T-Mobile counters YouTube’s argument by claiming that it’s just trying to provide users with speeds that are appropriate for use on mobile networks. [More]
T-Mobile To Verizon Customers: Switch And Get A Full Year Of Hulu For Free
By 12.10.15
A week after trying to lure away AT&T customers by offering them a $200 discount on a new iPhone, T-Mobile is going after Verizon customers. But instead of dangling cash back on a fancy phone, this time T-Mo is hoping that a year of free streaming video might do the trick. [More]
