Speaking at news conference Thursday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said T-Mobile’s new Binge On unlimited video streaming service is “highly innovative and highly competitive,” Bloomberg reported.
Wheeler’s comments came just on the heels of T-Mobile’s Binge On launch last week and helped ease concerns that the service might be in violation of the FCC’s net neutrality rules around prioritization of content providers.
For his part, T-Mobile CEO John Legere has said previously that Binge On does not represent a net neutrality problem because the service is open to all providers and users have the option to turn the service on or off.
Despite the compliments, however, Wheeler said the FCC will continue to keep an eye on the feature and will review the service under a general-conduct standard.
Announced at T-Mobile’s Uncarrier X event on Nov. 10, Binge On allows Un-carrier customers to stream mobile video without using their high-speed data allotment.
Legere has said T-Mobile is interested in working with any and all content providers – including pornography services – provided they meet T-Mobile’s technical specifications.
Initial participants include Crackle, Encore, ESPN, Fox Sports, Fox Sports Go, HBO Now, HBO Go, Hulu, MLB, Movieplex, NBC Sports, Netflix, Sling TV, Sling Box, SHOWTIME, STARZ, T-Mobile TV, Univision Deportes, Ustream, Vessel, Vevo and VUDU. Binge On also includes content from Verizon’s go90 and AT&T’s DirecTV streaming services. YouTube isn’t included in the list of participating services, but COO Mike Sievert said T-Mobile would love to have the video service on board.