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by criddell 979 days ago
I'm on TMobile in part because I got a free Netflix and MLB.tv. Is that an example?
2 comments

Yea that's probably an example - those companies get preferential treatment on the network w.r.t traffic and so competitors have a harder time entering the market.
But if they simply give you a free subscription without any kind traffic shenanigans, it's not a net neutrality issue?
> without any kind traffic shenanigans, it's not a net neutrality issue?

Yep.

But they do rate-limit people: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/plans-features/activate-hd-...

If you're on the top plan then you haven't experienced it. The irony is that T-Mobile was one of the ISPs throwing support behind net-neutrality, and now they are one of the most aggressive net discriminators.

Probably not unless there is something I'm not considering
I don’t think bundling other paid services counts. It’s only if the ISP treats the traffic to/from those paid services differently that you run afoul of net neutrality.
The term you're dancing around is zero-rating, and it is viewed unfavorably.

https://dig.watch/topics/network-neutrality#:~:text=Zero%2Dr....

But they do. Typically the bundled video services like Netflix or Apple don't count against your bandwidth usage.
TMobile gives me free Netflix, but I use it on my television which uses my home internet. So even if they zero-rated that service, in my case it's irrelevant.

Plus I think I have an unlimited* plan, so zero-rating something doesn't have much impact.