T-Mobile to exempt some streaming video services from data caps

T-Mobile announced Tuesday that its customers will be allowed to stream video from select services without it contributing to their plan’s monthly data allowance.

Under the new policy, dubbed Binge On after the practice of binge watching on streaming services, traffic from 24 streaming video services will be exempt from the caps associated with most wireless plans.

{mosads}It comes as T-Mobile looks to distinguish itself from Verizon and AT&T, its much larger competitors and the two major players in the U.S. wireless market, by playing into the explosive rise of online video services.

“With Binge On, video streams free from 24 streaming services to start, and more to come,” John Legere, T-Mobile’s CEO, said in a statement. “Only T-Mobile would find a way for customers to watch unlimited HBO, Hulu, Netflix, Sling TV and more … without eating into their LTE data, while the Duopoly is squeezing consumers with overage fees and over-buying!”

Other services participating in the plan include ESPN and Fox Sports’ streaming offerings. Any service that wants to participate can do so, as long as it meets certain technical specifications, the company said.

The move is likely to be controversial, since the practice of zero-rating, or not counting data usage on certain websites against a plan’s cap, is seen by some as a threat to net neutrality — the idea that all traffic on the web should be treated in the same way. Advocates worry that zero-rating can be used by Internet service providers to steer customers to certain content and services.

“People will rightly ask whether this practice discriminates unreasonably against video providers that don’t make the cut or can’t take advantage of this exemption for some reason,” Matt Wood, the policy director at public interest group Free Press, said in a statement, before raising a broader objection.

“But the real question is why T-Mobile would discriminate in favor of its customers who watch a lot of video, and against those who don’t — especially when we’ve heard excuses so many times about the supposed strain that video puts on networks.”

Wood also questioned why, if T-Mobile is able to exempt so many streaming services from its data cap, it needs the caps at all.

Netflix, which has opposed zero-rating in the past, said that it viewed the policy as a positive blow to the idea of capping data.

“T-Mobile’s decision to allow its subscribers to stream video content without fear of blowing their data caps is a significant step in the right direction toward eliminating such caps altogether,” Netflix spokeswoman Anne Marie Squeo said in a statement.

Other policies opposed by Netflix have only included certain services — rather than being open to all that meet certain standards.

In hefty net neutrality rules passed earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission said it would assess allegations of unfair zero-rating on an individual basis and that “service offerings, depending on how they are structured, could benefit consumers and competition.”

Tuesday’s announcement is part of an ongoing effort by T-Mobile to contrast its policies with those at Verizon and AT&T. Last year, the company said it would not count streaming music against data caps.