T-Mobile Confirms It Slows Connections to Video Sites

Though T-Mobile still wants to play games with words, the company has admitted it’s slowing down streams as part of its unlimited video service.

T-Mobile customers who activate the company’s controversial Binge On video service will experience downgraded internet connection speeds when viewing videos on YouTube or other sites that don’t take part in Binge On, a T-Mobile spokesperson confirmed today. They’ll also experience slower speeds when trying to download video files for offline use from websites that do not participate in Binge On, at least until the customer deactivates the service. The confirmation brings clarity to questions that have swirled for weeks about Binge On. The service, which is turned on by default but can be switched off at any time, allows some T-Mobile customers to watch unlimited amounts of video from Netflix and Hulu (which are T-Mobile partners) but not YouTube (which isn’t) without having those streams count against their data plans. In other words, the data usage exemptions only apply to T-Mobile’s partners, and video quality is limited to 480p, the same resolution that DVDs use.