US: FCC chairman praises T-Mobile’s new feature as ‘Pro-Competition

When T-Mobile last week announced its new Binge On perk, which lets you stream video on your mobile device without it eating into any of your allotted data, advocates for an open Internet were quick to voice concerns.

Now, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has weighed in, and it turns out he has no problem with Binge On. In fact, he actually supports it.

“It’s clear in the Open Internet Order that we said we are pro-competition and pro-innovation,” Wheeler said during Thursday’s FCC meeting, according to Ars Technica. “Clearly this meets both of those criteria. It’s highly innovative and highly competitive.”

Wheeler added that the FCC will keep the program on its radar to ensure it doesn’t violate the commission’s net neutrality rules.

With Binge On, T-Mobile is compressing its competitors. When announcing the program, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said Binge On “is not a net neutrality problem” because any company can participate, even porn providers. Critics, however, worried that certain services might be able to finagle a better experience than others on T-Mobile’s network.

Full content: Tech Times

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