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T-Mobile partners with various video providers to provide lower-bandwidth streams that don't count against bandwidth caps. Less-cynically, this may be to enfor

T-Mobile partners with various video providers to provide lower-bandwidth streams that don't count against bandwidth caps. Less-cynically, this may be to enforce that. I consider those agreements to be violations of Net Neutrality, since they're inherently not treating all data the same.

cglong 5y ago
I believe T-Mobile's newer plans (Magenta tiers) don't do this.
MontyCarloHall 5y ago
It is a blatant violation of net neutrality, but somewhat paradoxically, actually benefits the consumer in my experience. Several friends of mine on T-Mobile have raved about how Netflix/Spotify/et al. don’t count towards their monthly data limit. That said, iCloud private relay only applies to Safari, so T-Mobile blocking it probably doesn’t have much to do with their variable data caps.
- rhn_mk1 5y ago
  It's not paradoxical at all, net neutrality also protects from bad effects kicking in long-term. Zero-rating is effectively the same as providing dumping prices compared to the competition. It may benefit the customer now, but leads to lock-in. See Facebook's internet.org.
- aeternum 5y ago
  T-Mobile is pretty up-front about the various video quality options with their plans, and also has ways to temporarily boost your video quality for a few dollars. For many people, a cheaper plan with slightly lower quality video is a great tradeoff.
acdha 5y ago
> I consider those agreements to be violations of Net Neutrality, since they're inherently not treating all data the same. I would agree if they do not make that available to all services. At least at the time they did that for music there was a pretty long list of partners so I’d be most interested in knowing whether they charge money or reject applicants.
- ascagnel_ 5y ago
  I don’t think they’ve made the terms of those deals public, so it’s impossible to know if they’re fair or not. Either way, it can lead to service lock-in, because the next Netflix will be at even more of a disadvantage until they’re big enough to sign on with T-Mobile.

cglong 5y ago

I believe T-Mobile's newer plans (Magenta tiers) don't do this.

MontyCarloHall 5y ago

It is a blatant violation of net neutrality, but somewhat paradoxically, actually benefits the consumer in my experience. Several friends of mine on T-Mobile have raved about how Netflix/Spotify/et al. don’t count towards their monthly data limit. That said, iCloud private relay only applies to Safari, so T-Mobile blocking it probably doesn’t have much to do with their variable data caps.

rhn_mk1 5y ago
It's not paradoxical at all, net neutrality also protects from bad effects kicking in long-term. Zero-rating is effectively the same as providing dumping prices compared to the competition. It may benefit the customer now, but leads to lock-in. See Facebook's internet.org.
aeternum 5y ago
T-Mobile is pretty up-front about the various video quality options with their plans, and also has ways to temporarily boost your video quality for a few dollars. For many people, a cheaper plan with slightly lower quality video is a great tradeoff.

acdha 5y ago

> I consider those agreements to be violations of Net Neutrality, since they're inherently not treating all data the same. I would agree if they do not make that available to all services. At least at the time they did that for music there was a pretty long list of partners so I’d be most interested in knowing whether they charge money or reject applicants.

ascagnel_ 5y ago
I don’t think they’ve made the terms of those deals public, so it’s impossible to know if they’re fair or not. Either way, it can lead to service lock-in, because the next Netflix will be at even more of a disadvantage until they’re big enough to sign on with T-Mobile.