If you are one of the folks out there who think that T-Mobile's "Binge-On" service might be a "slight of hand" trick, (almost like a shell-game), designed to circumvent net neutrality rules, then your perspective might be vindicated very soon. YouTube has come out recently in talks with the Wall Street Journal indicating that T-Mobile is throttling their video streaming services.
Apparently it isn't just YouTube's streaming either. From what YouTube/Google (and some other services) said, T-Mobile is basically throttling all video streaming because of their Binge On program. That means even services like Hulu, Netflix & HBO Go are being throttled, creating a virtual tiered system that skirts the new net neutrality rules. T-Mobile's defense is that users can stop the throttling if they simply turn off their Binge On in their account settings.
It's not just YouTube/Google making this claim either. It was actually first reported by a consumer advocacy group called The Internet Association (of which Google is also a member). They shared that T-Mobile’s new practice “appears to involve throttling of all video traffic, across all data plans, regardless of network congestion.” A Google spokesperson had this to say, “Reducing data charges can be good for users, but it doesn’t justify throttling all video services, especially without explicit user consent."
On top of this, T-Mobile didn't include YouTube in their Binge On program for a very suspicious reason. T-Mobile claims they excluded YouTube because of a technical limitation of the carrier. They said they needed further cooperation from YouTube in identifying what was, or wasn’t, a video stream. It's hard not to see that excuse as completely arbitrary nonsense.
We want to give T-Mobile the benefit of the doubt, but something smells fishy. It will be interesting to see how this issue evolves.
