John Stankey
Stephen Desaulniers | CNBC
AT&T will no longer exempt the viewing of its HBO Max streaming service from data limitations after a federal court upheld California’s net neutrality law, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
The company informed customers that it will no longer offer “Data Free TV” on its video applications starting March 25, according to a copy of the customer’s opinion obtained by CNBC. This means that customers need to be connected to WiFi to prevent their streaming number from reaching the total data limit. The change will extend beyond California because, according to AT&T, “the Internet does not recognize state borders.”
The announcement highlights a key industry concern about state action affecting the internet sector. As with digital privacy laws, which currently exist in only a few states, the technology industry fears that a mix of state laws will make it more difficult to operate, especially for smaller players.
“A state-by-state approach to ‘net neutrality’ is unfeasible,” AT&T said in a statement announcing the change to the data cap. “A mixture of state regulations, many of them excessively restrictive, creates obstacles to creative and pro-consumer solutions.”
Network neutrality is the idea that internet service providers should act neutral on the content they host and refrain from speeding up or slowing down the delivery speed for certain sites or services. Under California law, which a federal judge said could be legally enforced last month, AT&T said it is not allowed to “sponsor” data for customers who also use its wireless services.
California’s net neutrality law follows the Trump administration’s decision to repeal a Obama-era net neutrality rule in the Federal Communications Commission. The old rule installed the principle of net neutrality by reinterpreting Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, so that internet service providers are considered to be more regulated common carriers.
AT&T said it had “long been committed to the principles of an open Internet” and urged Congress to pass federal laws to facilitate Americans’ access to the Internet “while providing clear, consistent and permanent rules for net neutrality for all.” the world. follow.”
– CNBC’s Steve Kopack contributed to this report.
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