T-Mobile Gives Customers Free Pokemon Go Data (theverge.com) 59
An anonymous reader shares a report from The Verge: T-Mobile has been a pioneer in giving special treatment to various apps and types of content used on its mobile network, and the carrier announced today that Pokemon Go will be joining its enclave of free data. Starting on July 19th, T-Mobile customers will have Pokemon Go data exempted from their high-speed data caps for a year. The company is also throwing in some other perks, like $15 in Lyft rides ("to get to a new pokestop or gym"), and a free Wendy's Frosty, making the slow death of net neutrality literally sweet.
net neutrality (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: net neutrality (Score:2)
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doesn't this violate net neutrality?
Yes, clearly it is an act of war. Therefore the invasion begins as soon as our download is complete.
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That's not how Net Neutrality works.
They are giving preferential treatment to Pokemon GO over other apps. Pokemon GO's data is privileged over other data.
If customers actually care about which games use their data and which ones don't, this means Pokemon GO has a clear advantage in the market.
Re:net neutrality (Score:4, Insightful)
doesn't this violate net neutrality?
how would it violate net neutrality?
First T-mobile doesn't stop data, it just slows it at a certain data level (depending on your plan). So no matter what website/app you're not getting blocked and if you haven't reached your data level you'll be at the same speed.
Second T-mobile is doing this as a benefit to its customers. Its a perk. Its not charging us differently, its not charging Pokemon Go to do this. etc.
Third because it doesn't count against your data cap, you can use the data you would have used playing pokemon-go on the other apps.
I see no reason why this would be a bad thing for anyone except ATT, Sprint and Verizon...
It's not bad with Pokemon Go, but what if they offered free data for Netflix but not for Amazon Prime Video, for example? While I don't think T-mobile has done anything wrong here, and I like that they're giving out little benefits, we need to be very careful of the precedent we risk setting. It's fine to give out free data for an app which has no direct competition, but once we start moving into custom stores or services, then I think that, faced with one being free data and the other not, I think the choice is pretty clear what most people are going to make, and it becomes easy for somebody like ATT and Verzion to partner with Netflix and drive out all competition, in exchange for a cut of Netflix's profits. It literally becomes unprofitable to make a competition video service in such a case.
Re:net neutrality (Score:4, Interesting)
It's fine to give out free data for an app which has no direct competition,
Even Pokemon Go has direct competition. It may masquerade as a game but its basically collecting monetizable data about your movements and habits. It also has in-app purchasing. Is it beyond the bounds of possibility that T-Mobile has cut itself a deal for a share of the profits in return for free bandwidth?
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With T-Mobile service (great in some areas and shit in others ) it is most likely the deal is little more than getting and keeping customers. It probably makes up for when you end up in a shit area while traveling around looking for pokemon to capture.
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but it's NOT your normal movement and habits though...
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That really depends if Pokemon start mysteriously appearing in Starbucks, or if you get ads for places in your vicinity. The game monetizes your activities as well as in-app purchases (which could also be tied to real-world promotions based on location). Therefore it is east to see a profit motive for Nintendo and for any network provider who cuts themselves a deal in return for some revenue.
They've already announced that in ~30 days, every McDonald's in the US will be a Pokemon gym.
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You don't see why it would be a bad thing for other mobile games that compete against Pokemon Go, but don't get free data?
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No. Well, yes and no. If you look at it from the point of view of competitors, then yes, but if you look at it from the point of view of customers, then no - even if my favorite game doesn't get free bandwidth, because all that means is nothing has changed for me.
The problem with the net neutrality rules is they go too far. I agree with the concept in so far as service providers need to recognize who their customers are and not extort content providers - who are NOT the service provider's customers. The
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Re: net neutrality (Score:2, Informative)
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Except it probably saves on data usage (Score:3)
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From a Data:BatteryLife standpoint, you're coming out way ahead.
I found him! I found the one guy not playing Pokemon GO!!!
Pokemon GO chews through batteries like a Sega Game Gear.
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So it chews through batteries like a Game Gear with the TV attachment?
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I found him! I found the one guy not playing Pokemon GO!!!
Pokemon GO chews through batteries like a Sega Game Gear.
I was actually trying to make such an observation: That for the same battery life, Pokemon will use much less data than the usual time-wasting suspects.
Evidently, I failed.
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Why would anyone care about data per battery when the battery usage dictates the amount of time you can play (or use your phone for anything else)?
I thought the : was just some shitty typo, especially since you said "you're coming out way ahead".
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---PCJ
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How much data does Pokemon Go use in an average day, anyway? Is it enough that this will matter, or is T-Mobile just promoting themselves with a feel-good measure?
Marketing (Score:3)
This story is basically free advertising for T-Mobile. Pokemon GO is super popular at the moment, but it doesn't use much data. It uses up 2-8MB/hour [pokemongodb.net], and the average player only plays it 43 minutes a day [usatoday.com], meaning 1.5-6MB per day usage for an average player. That's ~120MB/month for the average player, not exactly pushing the limits of most people's data caps.
Adding in that it's probably the most popular mobile game at the moment anyhow, there shouldn't be a net neutrality problem; people who don't enjoy the game won't feel pressured to play it over other games merely due to the zero-rated data. If, say, one VPN were zero-rated while its competitors were not, there could be a serious problem; I could even see zero-rating being a problem with MMOs or livestreaming services where different services are essentially commodities. However, in this case the data usage of a game with effectively no competition in its genre isn't a significant contributor to people's choice to play it over other games.
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right now they're the last place upstart among the major carriers
Actually, they passed up Sprint a couple weeks ago.
Oh, wait, Sprint's not a major carrier anymore. Carry on.
Nothing to do with Net Neutrality (Score:4, Insightful)
Much like when people scream the 2nd Amendment when a private company declines to allow you to say your piece whenever you want, people will scream Net Neutrality at this.
This was not an agreement between Tmobile and Nintendo (or peering systems) to prioritize data.
This was not Tmobile accelerating or throttling data.
This was not Tmobile affecting the transfer of data at all.
This was Tmobile making a business decision to exempt this data from charges to you. They are totally allowed to do this, and its actually a great promotional move.
Put down the pitchforks and pick up the pokeballs, you gotta catch 'em all...
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Much like when people scream the 2nd Amendment when a private company declines to allow you to say your piece whenever you want
No, "THE SECOND AMENDMENT!" is what I scream before I start shooting. ;)
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This was not an agreement between Tmobile and Nintendo (or peering systems) to prioritize data.
This was not Tmobile accelerating or throttling data.
This was not Tmobile affecting the transfer of data at all.
They will give you access to certain destinations that they decided but if you want to go anywhere else, they restrict your connection to 0 bps... unless you give them more money. That is unfair competition for my app which uses huge amounts of data too and therefore a violation of network neutrality.
T-Mobile Tuesdays (Score:3)
Someone has a bone to pick with T-Mobile...the free Lyft ride and Wendy's frosty have absolutely nothing to do with Net Neutrality or adding Pokemon Go data to binge on. They are weekly gifts through their T-Mobile Tuesday giveaways which they've had for I don't even know how long, but long before now.
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Someone has a bone to pick with T-Mobile...the free Lyft ride and Wendy's frosty have absolutely nothing to do with Net Neutrality or adding Pokemon Go data to binge on. They are weekly gifts through their T-Mobile Tuesday giveaways which they've had for I don't even know how long, but long before now.
For about a month. There's also a free Vudu rental every week. They already terminated the free medium pizza at Domino's (after two weeks), because too many customers were actually redeeming the offer.
Darwin Approved! (Score:2)
So, checking out the sidebar news on FB. Darwin must be laughing his ass off. A game in which evolution is a core mechanic is causing semi-natural selection among humans. Walking off cliffs, falling in lakes, getting hit by cars, stabbed in parks...
And that's just Southern California!
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'what Pokemon do most definitely isn't evolve"
One of the typical side effects of evolution is the inability to breed with prior generations.
Guess what Pokemon does?