T-Mobile US finally lets websites escape Binge On's web vid crusher

Go ahead, torch all our customers' data allowances, says carrier

T‑Mobile US will let video-streaming websites opt out of being included in Binge On.

This is the service that lets people watch stuff online without the downloads counting against their monthly limits, although the video quality is deliberately reduced to 480p. Subscribers using Binge On can stream as much as they like all month, but some websites – such as YouTube – aren't happy with the limit on the resolution and thus want out of the scheme. Today T-Mobile US is giving them that out.

"Now video providers can choose to have their content stream at native resolutions – including Ultra HD and beyond – without Binge On's mobile optimization, using up customers' high-speed data faster," T‑Mob said in what looks to be an effort to make the option as unappealing as possible.

Introduced in 2015, Binge On sparked controversy as net neutrality advocates believe it puts smaller streaming services at a disadvantage to the larger Binge On-covered services, whose all-you-can-eat streams made them more attractive to netizens.

The conflict inspired T‑Mobile US CEO John Legere to do what John Legere does best and say regrettable things about the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He later (sort of) apologized.

Other gripes against the service include the aforementioned automatic quality reduction Binge On applies to video streams. Now T‑Mob will let video websites either compress the stream themselves, let the telco's systems do it, or opt out completely.

Meanwhile, T‑Mobile US has signed on Google Play Movies, Discovery Go, and Fox Business to Binge On, so their vids will no longer count against data caps for T‑Mob customers.

T-Mobile US estimates that the full list of Binge On carriers accounts for almost 70 per cent of all video traffic on its network. ®