YouTube, T-Mobile Reach Compromise Regarding Latter Company’s Binge On Program

Late last year, YouTube called out T-Mobile’s Binge On program. As the video site said at the time, Binge On — which offers customers lower data fees in exchange for decreased streaming quality — had the unintended consequence of throttling YouTube bandwidth for T-Mobile users.

Three months later, YouTube and T-Mobile have settled their differences. In a blog post, YouTube wrote that T-Mobile has worked to “ensure that the program works well for all users and the entire video ecosystem.” As a result, the video site has joined Binge On.

YouTube’s issue with Binge On arose from the fact that T-Mobile users were opted into the program automatically and accepted the waived data fees-for-slower streaming tradeoff without explicit consent. From YouTube’s point of view, its mobile service was being throttled, even though it had not chosen to be included in Binge On.

Now, however, T-Mobile has taken steps to better educate its customers about Binge On and has made it easier for them to opt out. In addition, it has pledged to give more choices to video providers as well; if those platforms do not wish to be included in Binge On, they will be able to manage their own streams and deliver them to consumers at higher speeds than those offered by Binge On.

The argument between YouTube and T-Mobile has been settled for now, but low-cost, low-quality streaming plans could cause more problems in the future. According to Ars Technica, the FCC is evaluating “zero-rating programs” like Binge On to see if they violate net neutrality rules.