
T-Mobile offers one-week network test drive, free music streaming - arms77
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/19/us-usa-tmobile-idUSKBN0EU1RH20140619?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews
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chimeracoder
This is exactly what the end of net neutrality looks like.

Certain "approved" services won't count towards your data plan, whereas all
the others will be limited. As a result, it will be nearly impossible for
startups to break into new markets, because they not only have to face the
challenge of acquiring new users, but their services will be inherently
inferior (from the user's perspective), as they will count towards their data
caps. There will be less innovation, and more stagnation as incumbents face
less and less competition: [http://avc.com/2014/01/vc-pitches-in-a-year-or-
two/](http://avc.com/2014/01/vc-pitches-in-a-year-or-two/)

Notice how not _all_ streaming services are covered - only the ones that
T-Mobile has approved here.

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rayiner
> This is exactly what the end of net neutrality looks like.

What "end of net neutrality?" There was never a point in time where this would
have been disallowed.

As a T-Mobile customer, I think this is fantastic. There are a lot of
potential advantages to vertical integration of the network and the content
provider. Imagine caching Spotify data right at the cell site to minimize the
impact on the backhaul, or offering reduced data charges for Netflix in
situations where T-Mobile can take advantage of LTE MBSFN.

Moreover, the usual justifications for regulation aren't applicable here.
T-Mobile has three major competitors in every one of its markets, and more
than that in some. They bought the spectrum with private capital, and built
the network with private capital. They don't owe it to startups to make their
VC pitches easier.

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judk
The courts have taken a dim view of "bundling" in the past -- leveraging an
incumbency in one product area to anti-competitively subsidize another area.

Sure, I have 4 cell phone networks to choose from. But how many
cellphone+music networks? That is where anticompetitiveness appears.

As a Pandora user, I am not excited by T-Mobile investing its resources in
Spotify.

And edge caching already exists, it doesn't need to be discriminatory.

Finally, this isn't even about edge caching or backhaul, it is about reserving
radio bandwidth for preferred partners.

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rayiner
Leveraging one line of business to subsidize another is only anti-competitive
if you're a monopoly in the first line of business. But T-Mobile isn't a
monopoly in cellular service.

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jacquesm
> But T-Mobile isn't a monopoly in cellular service.

They do however control access to services that their subscribers use. To give
their preferred services priority and/or different rates over those offered by
competitors or others is something that goes against common carrier principles
which seem to imply (to me at least, maybe that's wrong) that there are
minimum performance guarantees. T-Mobile currently enjoys common carrier
status and as such should attempt to emulate a dumb pipe as much as possible
lest they get the regulatory eye of Sauron pointed in their direction.

I highly doubt they will risk that just for laughs, so likely this is simply a
pilot of sorts.

~~~
mikecb
What if the music service simply pays for the bandwidth rather than the end
user?

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Mandatum
For those doting on net neutrality - this is purely the 'answer' from a Cable
companies perspective. People don't need cable now. So what do you do? Buy an
ISP, match up with existing partners to offer deals. It's already happened
here in New Zealand. Telecom have partnered with Spotify, Vodafone has just
bought a bunch of smaller ISP's. Sky, originally our version of
"cable"/satellite has now bought out a lot of the bigger ISP's and is using
it's network to push content via streaming services at a premium.

The funny thing is, Telecom own pretty much all of our lines. (Govt sold them
in the 80's.)

The plot thickens..

~~~
cbhl
I dunno. Preferential zero-rating of a specific service, whether it's Facebook
or Spotify, is precisely the antithesis of net neutrality.

When I think of net neutrality, I think about what happened to ISPs in Canada
-- bandwidth caps (albeit large ones, after many years of squabbling) and per-
GB overage fees. But, while I'd rather that the ISP charge me a reasonable
tariff for additional data usage than throttle me during peak hours for a
fixed price, I can see that not everyone would like it that way.

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higherpurpose
Picking winners and losers in the music streaming business:

[https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140619/06354227623/when-...](https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140619/06354227623/when-
your-internet-access-provider-gets-to-pick-winners-losers-theres-
problem.shtml)

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chockablock
Great marketing move. Consider how much more press/mileage T-Mo gets for this,
versus raising data caps by an equivalent amount (E.g. back in March when they
bumped caps up by 0.5GB/mo on most of their plans [1].)

[1]
[http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=13758](http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=13758)

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sliverstorm
Where the heck is this list...

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judk
Thank you for telling me the content of the spam email I received today.

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naturalethic
This is a bit gimmicky. They should build market share through earned
reputation.

