T-Mobile launches Music Freedom: no data cap hit for Spotify, Pandora etc.

quote:

---

Net neutrality has seen headier days, and to be honest, it never stood a chance in the wireless industry — but T-Mobile just drove the point home at its "Uncarrier 6.0" announcement in Seattle this evening.

With a new initiative it's calling Music Freedom, a handful of music services will be blessed by the carrier so that they don't hit subscribers monthly data allowances. (T-Mobile doesn't charge overage fees, but throttles data speeds once users reached prescribed limits.) The list of Music Freedom-compatible services currently includes Pandora, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, iTunes Radio, Slacker, Spotify, Samsung's Milk, and the forthcoming streaming service from electronic music destination Beatport. It'll also be taking votes from customers through its website and on Twitter for other services to add to the list of exemptions.

It sounds wonderful — and right in line with the "uncarrier" image that firebrand CEO John Legere has worked so hard to cultivate — but it's a terribly slippery slope: T-Mobile has decided, arbitrarily, that some of the data traveling over its pipes should count against a cap, while other data should not. What's to stop it from using data cap exemptions as a punitive measure against content providers that aren't on good terms with T-Mobile (or its parent company Deutsche Telekom)?

---