T-Mobile One (NASDAQ: TMUS) offers a new unlimited data plan for an extra charge of some services that may violate Net Neutrality rules. The plan throttles hotspot and video speed and raises significant concerns as it will replace all the current bundles in the carrier’s catalog, including the cheap ones for $50 and $65 a month.
The package includes unlimited talk, text and video streaming, high-speed 4G LTE, and U-carrier benefits like Simple Global (unlimited text and data roaming in over 14 countries).
It also offers Mobile Without Borders (the service works in Canada and Mexico like in the USA), T-Mobile Tuesdays (promotions free treats every week for subscribers).
However, getting HD video costs additional $25 a month per line. Customers are worried about the net neutrality rules, and even the rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation labeled the plan as an extra charge to not throttle video runs.
“T-Mobile One” plan imposes new limits on unlimited data
The wireless carrier announced the plan this Friday with a starting price of $70 per month for the first line. The second line has an extra cost of $50, whereas lines three through eight are $20 more per line.
The service will be available to postpaid subscribers on September 6, while prepaid customers would be able to sing up “in the future.” The plan brings the end of data buckets, although existing customers can keep their current data plans.
The unlimited plan offers several add-ons to the clients: Stateside International Talk for 15$ per line, High-Speed International Data, the possibility to add tablets for $20 or smartwatches for $5 to the plan, and $15 for each 5GB of high-speed mobile hotspot allotment
The T-Mobile plan caps hotspot usage to 2G speeds, which the company defines as fast as 128kbps. Evidently, HD Video is accounted for as an add-on. More so, resolutions up to 4K have a price of 25$ a month.
Current Simple Choice unlimited plan is $95 per month. The bundle includes 14GB of high-speed navigation, but it doesn’t ask extra payment for high-definition video streaming. Full features of Un-carrier 12 for a single line will add up to $110 per month, and the existing unlimited plan costs 95$ per month without video quality limits and with 12GB high-speed mobile hotspot.
Bottom line, Un-carrier 12 doesn’t provide a better service. This is what is called “throttling,” a measure employed by communication networks to manage bandwidth congestion.
The FCC is investigating if T-Mobile one breaks the Net Neutrality rules
EFF Senior Staff Technologist Jeremy Gillula told the Daily Dot that T-Mobile One’s HD video tax could violate both FCC’s Open Internet Order and Network Neutrality policies.
It is worth noting net neutrality is the principle that dictates all carriers and governments should treat all data the same, regardless of the user, content, site, platform, application of data bandwidth.
The Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Order also explicitly prohibits the exemption of particular services of a data plan to manage bandwidth usage.
FCC told the portal the Commission’s review is ongoing and will keep vigilant on the new developments in unlimited data plans.
Source: Daily Dot