T-Mobile bulks up Binge On with ABC, Fox Now, Apple Music, and more
The new entrants give T-Mobile a total of over 100 providers, which means there’s a good chance that a few of your favorite services participate. When you enable Binge On, you can play streaming content from any of those providers without eating into your monthly data allotment on T-Mobile’s network.
Sounds great, right Well, not to everyone. Recently, researchers at Northeastern University studied Binge On, and found that it regularly drops below a 480p resolution, which is usually a minimum for acceptable quality. T-Mobile got into some hot water during the Binge On debut for not being fully upfront about compressing video.
Also, the Electronic Frontier Foundation recently raised net neutrality concerns, objecting in principle to the idea that T-Mobile gets to decree some services as data-free while others are not. The opt-in nature of the program has kept it free from major government scrutiny for the time being. But the recent decision to grant free data to Pokémon Go may be worth a closer inspection, as it puts one particular mobile game at an advantage.
The impact on you: Apple Music is a clutch upgrade if you’re a subscriber to Cupertino’s streaming service. Net neutrality issues aside, Binge On is a compelling reason to go with T-Mobile, which has sought to differentiate itself from other carriers as being more consumer-friendly.