wordpress blog stats
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

,

In net neutrality violation, HBO Max to be zero rated on AT&T in the US: Report

In a net neutrality violation, AT&T will not count HBO Max against wireless internet users' data caps, The Verge reported. A company executive told The Verge that the HBO's streaming service, which AT&T owns, will be a part of the Sponsored Data program, where content providers pay on users' behalf when the latter consume data from partnered content providers. We have reached out to AT&T for comment. Since AT&T is essentially sponsoring its own data, this creates an unlevel playing field between HBO Max and other streaming services. Given that the US's wireless internet is among the world's costliest, exemptions to data caps can be a significant advantage for content providers. That competitive problem becomes more worrying when the content provider in question is owned by the carrier. In the US, while net neutrality laws were revoked under the Trump administration, zero rating was never illegal, and a review into those practices initiated under the previous FCC administration was halted in 2017. This gives companies like AT&T and T-Mobile (whose Binge-On program allows content providers to have their data exempted from caps) free rein to choose whose services can be more attractive to customers on account of costing nothing. AT&T also throttles some video by default for mobile data users, reducing video quality to 480p, under what it calls the Stream Saver program. This program is opt-out, so users have to contact the carrier to disable it. TikTok joins T-Mobile's BingeOn: Sometime before 15 February, TikTok joined T-Mobile's BingeOn program, allowing…

Please subscribe/login to read the full story.
Written By

I cover the digital content ecosystem and telecom for MediaNama.

Free Reads

News

With GPS in every car, India's toll collection is going high-tech.

News

Google is currently undergoing the necessary procedures for the leasehold land, which is presently under the ownership of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.

News

The pilot project for which is being launched in 19 cities this year, with a plan to launch a full-fledged rollout next year.

MediaNama’s mission is to help build a digital ecosystem which is open, fair, global and competitive.

Views

News

NPCI CEO Dilip Asbe recently said that what is not written in regulations is a no-go for fintech entities. But following this advice could...

News

Notably, Indus Appstore will allow app developers to use third-party billing systems for in-app billing without having to pay any commission to Indus, a...

News

The existing commission-based model, which companies like Uber and Ola have used for a long time and still stick to, has received criticism from...

News

Factors like Indus not charging developers any commission for in-app payments and antitrust orders issued by India's competition regulator against Google could contribute to...

News

Is open-sourcing of AI, and the use cases that come with it, a good starting point to discuss the responsibility and liability of AI?...

You May Also Like

News

Google has released a Google Travel Trends Report which states that branded budget hotel search queries grew 179% year over year (YOY) in India, in...

Advert

135 job openings in over 60 companies are listed at our free Digital and Mobile Job Board: If you’re looking for a job, or...

News

By Aroon Deep and Aditya Chunduru You’re reading it here first: Twitter has complied with government requests to censor 52 tweets that mostly criticised...

News

Rajesh Kumar* doesn’t have many enemies in life. But, Uber, for which he drives a cab everyday, is starting to look like one, he...

MediaNama is the premier source of information and analysis on Technology Policy in India. More about MediaNama, and contact information, here.

© 2008-2021 Mixed Bag Media Pvt. Ltd. Developed By PixelVJ

Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Name:*
Your email address:*
*
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

© 2008-2021 Mixed Bag Media Pvt. Ltd. Developed By PixelVJ