T-Mobile’s Binge On program launched in November 2015, and allows customers with qualifying Simple Choice phone plans to stream from participating streaming services without it counting towards their monthly data cap, though the video quality is lower than HD at 480p resolution. The new batch of video providers brings the total number to 52, including big-names like HBO GO, ESPN, Playstation Vue, and most recently Amazon Video and the WWE Network.
In the press release, John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile called the Binge On program a “runaway hit” and made sure to take a quick shot at the competition, alluding to Verizon and AT&T. “Customers at the Duopoly can either stop watching or pay bigger bills and surprise overage charges.”
Since Binge On’s launch four months ago, T-Mobile customers have been watching video twice as many hours per day compared to before it launched. Additionally, the video services included in Binge On account for “70 percent of all video T-Mobile customers watch on their phones,” according to the company’s press release. The full list of new video services added include Baeble Music, Discovery GO, ESNE TV, FilmOn.TV, Fox Business, Google Play Movies, KlowdTV, Red Bull TV, and YouTube.
T-Mobile is also putting more choice in the hands of those very streaming services its customers love to stream. Now, the service gives video providers the option to forgo Binge On, so that content is streamed in its native resolution. YouTube will be one of the first video providers to use the new option to stream video it’s already optimized for mobile directly. However, video streamed at higher resolutions will eat up data.
