Binge On Streaming Service Is Pro Net Neutrality, Legere Says, Apologizing to EFF
T-Mobile remains a strong proponent of net neutrality and its zero-rated Binge On video streaming service is “VERY” pro open Internet, CEO John Legere said an open letter to consumers, posted on the carrier’s website. Last week, net neutrality advocates…
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led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation raised questions about the service, provoking a expletive-laced response from Legere (see 1601080030). Many are missing a key component of Binge On, Legere said. “You can turn it on and off in your MyTMobile account -- whenever you want,” he said. “Turn it on and off at will. Customers are in control. Not T-Mobile. Not content providers. Customers. At all times.” T-Mobile wanted to make Binge On easy for subscribers to use and that’s why it was made an automatic feature on all devices, he said. “We don’t like to make customers dig around to find great new benefits.” Binge On uses proprietary technology to detect video, “determine its source, identify whether it should be FREE and finally adjust all streams for a smaller/handheld device,” he said. “Most video streams come in at incredibly high resolution rates that are barely detectable by the human eye on small device screens and this is where the data in plans is wasted.” Legere said despite the complaints about the service, “T-Mobile is a company that absolutely supports Net Neutrality and we believe in an open and free Internet.” Legere apologized for "offending EFF and its supporters" and said "just because we don’t completely agree on all aspects of Binge On doesn’t mean I don’t see how they fight for consumers. ... We look forward to sitting down and talking with the EFF and that is a step we will definitely take. Unfortunately, my color commentary from last week is now drowning out the real value of Binge On."