Exempting popular apps from data charges is anti-competitive

#1

Post by steven » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 9:07 PM UTC

Re: Exempting popular apps from data charges is anti-competitive

#2

Post by SixSigma » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 9:34 PM UTC

My mobile contract in the UK is $20 per month for 1000Gb on 4G with tethering permitted, 5000 voice minutes to the same carrier, 2000 voice minutes to any other carrier and 5000 text messages.

It is not just the Zero Rating that is evil.

Re: Exempting popular apps from data charges is anti-competitive

#3

Post by anindyabd » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 9:42 PM UTC

I'm not sure how much competition Wikipedia has as a free online encyclopedia. Also, Wikipedia is a non-profit, and doesn't really make more money by having more people use the site. It's strange to claim that Wikipedia is being anti-competitive. Personally, I think Wikipedia Zero is a great program.

The article also says:

> The reason that the Chinese, Russian and Cuban governments fear an open Internet more than anything else is that it allows users to gather and speak to one another. But users of a walled-garden “zero-rated” Internet can’t even click links that go outside the garden.

It's true that users can't go out of the sites they have free access to. But services like Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp do allow people to "gather and speak to one another". In fact, Twitter and Facebook were prominent in the lead-up to the Arab Spring.

Re: Exempting popular apps from data charges is anti-competitive

#4

Post by toomuchtodo » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 9:45 PM UTC

SixSigma wrote: post #2

My mobile contract in the UK is $20 per month for 1000Gb on 4G with tethering permitted, 5000 voice minutes to the same carrier, 2000 voice minutes to any other carrier and 5000 text messages. It is not just the Zero Rating that is evil.

I'm paying $50/month in the states on T-Mobile for unlimited text/voice and 2.5GB of data, no tethering permitted.

EDIT: Yes, I still tether, I stated it for completeness. You can get around the tethering nag by using SSL or VPN when tethered.

Re: Exempting popular apps from data charges is anti-competitive

#5

Post by nkangoh » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 9:46 PM UTC

Though I agree that in many situations it is anti-competitive, I think it would be difficult to tell someone who has a small data to work with that you're going to take away their currently free access to Facebook, Wikipedia, etc.

Re: Exempting popular apps from data charges is anti-competitive

#6

Post by sliverstorm » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 9:48 PM UTC

Since when has sweetening your offerings been viewed as anti-competitive? That's all "data sponsoring" is; making your product more compelling through the use of cash. Is using money to make your product attractive now anti-trust?

I flipped through Wiki for a refresher, just to make sure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-competitive_practices

Re: Exempting popular apps from data charges is anti-competitive

#7

Post by seattlegal » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 9:50 PM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #6

Since when has sweetening your offerings been viewed as anti-competitive? That's all "data sponsoring" is; making your product more compelling through the use of cash. Is using money to make your product attractive now anti-trust? I flipped through Wiki for a refresher, just to make sure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-competitive_practices

It's anti-competitive to app devs, not other wireless providers. Classic "pull the ladder up behind me" behavior.

Re: Exempting popular apps from data charges is anti-competitive

#8

Post by spost » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 9:51 PM UTC

The article calls out AT&T and Sprint for their programs, thought I'd mention that T-Mobile has something similar going on with their Music Freedom program: http://www.t-mobile.com/offer/free-music-streaming.html

Re: Exempting popular apps from data charges is anti-competitive

#9

Post by sliverstorm » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 9:55 PM UTC

seattlegal wrote: post #7

sliverstorm wrote: post #6

Since when has sweetening your offerings been viewed as anti-competitive? That's all "data sponsoring" is; making your product more compelling through the use of cash. Is using money to make your product attractive now anti-trust? I flipped through Wiki for a refresher, just to make sure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-competitive_practices

It's anti-competitive to app devs, not other wireless providers. Classic "pull the ladder up behind me" behavior.

I'm expressly talking about the app devs.

It might be truly anti-competitive "ladder-up-behind-you" if all app devs were forced to sponsor client-side traffic. Think of taxi tokens- a fixed barrier to entry.

But even then, to be an anti-competitive barrier to entry it must also be high. The cost of a postage stamp on your government paperwork is a barrier to entry, but it is not anti-competitive.

Re: Exempting popular apps from data charges is anti-competitive

#10

Post by AnthonyMouse » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 9:56 PM UTC

nkangoh wrote: post #5

Though I agree that in many situations it is anti-competitive, I think it would be difficult to tell someone who has a small data to work with that you're going to take away their currently free access to Facebook, Wikipedia, etc.

So don't. Facebook and Wikipedia don't require a huge amount of bandwidth, that's how they can be free. Just stop discriminating. Give people a mode they can switch on where they don't get charged for data but get capped at 0.5Mbps.