California has enacted a “net neutrality” law banning “sponsored data” services that allowed companies to pay for, or “sponsor,” the data usage of their customers who are also AT&T wireless customers. Unfortunately, under the California law we are now prohibited from providing certain data features to consumers free of charge.
Prior to California’s law, sponsored data customers were able to browse, stream and enjoy applications from sponsors without using their monthly data allowance. AT&T video providers utilized sponsored data to offer Data Free TV, allowing customers to stream their favorite movies and shows over their AT&T wireless service without it counting against their wireless data plan. AT&T Mobility has for years openly invited any entity to become a wireless data sponsor on the same terms and conditions. Since it began, our sponsored data service, and competing offers from other wireless providers, have delivered significant benefits and saved consumers money. Consumers also have enjoyed an explosion of video streaming services.
We regret the inconvenience to customers caused by California’s new “net neutrality” law. Given that the Internet does not recognize state borders, the new law not only ends our ability to offer California customers such free data services but also similarly impacts our customers in states beyond California.
A state-by-state approach to “net neutrality” is unworkable. A patchwork of state regulations, many of them overly restrictive, creates roadblocks to creative and pro-consumer solutions. We have long been committed to the principles of an open Internet. We deliver the content and services our customers want because it’s what they demand, not because it’s mandated by regulation. We also believe Internet access should be available and sustainably affordable to all Americans, and strongly advocate for Congress to adopt federal legislation to make that possible while providing clear, consistent, and permanent net neutrality rules for everyone to follow.
“We apologize that our attempt to vertically integrate into a walled garden of a media monopoly and incentivize our customers to prioritize OUR content and secure the ad revenue for ourselves has failed due to California’s “net neutrality” law. A state-by-state approach to net neutrality is unworkable which is why activists started this push back against AT&T’s favorite employee Ajit Pai in California in the first place. As car manufacturers and other multi-national monopolies have realized, once a law passes in California that limits a corporation’s ability to vertically integrate into a monopoly in order to throttle, sorry “shape traffic” from AT&T customers to their direct competitors it is no longer profitable to provide one service just for California. At AT&T we value your money, and will be arbitrarily raising rates and lowering data caps in order to funnel large truckloads of campaign finance donations to senators and congressmen to adopt federal legislation of our choice.”
The neutrality law is leveling the playing field and turning you into what you should’ve been in the first place, the backbone over which internet traffic is passed. Nothing more, nothing less. I’m sorry ATT can’t charge other companies to push their services anymore… whatever will you do for money now?
~ a happy Californian
This statement is dishonest. AT&T could exempt all video streaming services including HBO Max from its mobile data caps without violating the California law as long as AT&T stops charging rival video companies for the same data-cap exemptions.
Well, that’s an outright lie, isn’t it?
California law hasn’t prohibited you from offering data features. It just prohibits you from charging competitors. You were free to continue zero-rating HBO Max, as long as you didn’t data-cap other services unless they paid. The law didn’t stop you. You did.
Which is a shame, really. If you decided to keep the data cap exemption for a while category of content, it’d be a good way to bring in customers and retain current ones. I can’t fathom how throwing a tantrum and then lying about who made you do it is good business sense at all.
Frankly I don’t care whom did it or what law did it. Fight it and or find a workaround!
I want my darn unthrottled zero rated
ATT TV, ATT Watch and HBO Back
Alternative raise the dang data caps!
Y’all knew with the advent of 5G
All Data caps would need significantly raised anyways