T-Mobile will allow you to stream Netflix, Hulu, more without it counting towards your data caps

T-Mobile US has announced this week that many of their subscribers will soon be able to stream unlimited video without worrying about it counting towards their data caps.

"Video streams free," T-Mobile CEO John Legere said Tuesday. "Binge on. Start watching your shows, stop watching your data."

The deal applies to anyone who pays for at least 3GB of data per month and at launch the company has included 24 popular streaming services. Notably missing are YouTube and Facebook, but included are most of the biggest services in the world like Netflix, Hulu, Watch ESPN and HBO Go/Now.

As part of the new "Binge On" service, there is one huge caveat. If you enable it, T-Mobile will degrade the video quality from 1080p in many cases to "DVD quality" aka 480p.

Regardless, T-Mobile continues to make its service chock full of interesting and consumer-friendly features that other carriers have scrambled to add after the fact.

Source:
T-Mobile

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Nov 2015 10:31

Bozobub

"Consumer-friendly"..? I think not! In fact, this is a direct assault on current net neutrality regulations.

Don't think so? Then how about putting yourself in the shoes of the CEO of any streaming service not on that list? I think your opinion might change.

12.11.2015 16:12 #1

seths

I think you are wrong in many ways. First of all, net neutrality doesn't cover mobile phones. Also, the rules are mostly intended for hard-wired ISP's that are controlling access to the telephone poles' "last mile" where it breaks out from the fiber backbone to coax or twisted pair before entering a home. Additionally, the rules are meant to provide equal access to websites without showing a preference by means of blocking or throttling. In this case, the only throttling being done is to the websites that are involved in the free data, which in itself does not violate the rules because that still isn't throttling any competitors, and even that can be bypassed by users who would rather use their data like normal to enjoy their choice of video quality. I could go on for hours, I think you are wrong on this

13.11.2015 02:18 #2

DVDBack23

Originally posted by Bozobub: "Consumer-friendly"..? I think not! In fact, this is a direct assault on current net neutrality regulations.

Don't think so? Then how about putting yourself in the shoes of the CEO of any streaming service not on that list? I think your opinion might change. CEO Jon Legere said any streaming company can be added to their whitelist, they just have to ask. They even said porn could be included.

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13.11.2015 22:25 #3

pmshah

First of all T-Mobile means mobile service. How many subscribers would be owning devices that support 1080p resolution that will appear bad when playing back 480p videos? I watch 480p videos on my 26" LCD monitor all the time. I am hearing impaired. I play these videos at 70% speed to be able to read the subtitles. I have no complaints. What T-Mobile is probably trying to do is prevent their networks getting saturated. Only people who MAY have grounds to complain would be those using something like Chromecast to view on much larger screens. Even in that case if you have playback software that does a decent job of scaling and you are sitting at the recommended distance from the screen there should be no problem.

15.11.2015 22:58 #4

seths

Originally posted by DVDBack23: They even said porn could be included. Sweet, i'm tired of hitting my 10gb cap in one night, lol.

18.11.2015 14:50 #5

autryld

Assault on net neutrality? Is someone reading T.C. Sottek's drivel? Give me a break. Which is what T-Mobile is giving us.

By the way, streaming to tethered devices does not affect your cap. I have unlimited unthrottled but I will likely use that that tethered

18.11.2015 16:11 #6

Bozobub

Oh, you think so, eh?

Fine.

Let's wait a few months, and see how many bit players are included on the "stream for free" list =) .

18.11.2015 17:38 #7

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