John Stankey
Stephen Desaulniers | CNBC
AT&T will stop exempting viewer data limit from its HBO Max broadcast service after a federal court upheld California’s net neutrality law, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
The company informed customers that it would no longer offer “Data Free TV” to its video apps as of March 25, according to a copy of the customer notice obtained by CNBC. This means that customers must be connected to WiFi to prevent the number of transmissions from playing up to the total data limit. The change will extend beyond California, as, according to AT&T, “the Internet does not recognize state borders.”
The announcement highlights a key concern the industry has with state actions affecting the Internet sector. As with digital privacy laws, which currently only exist in a couple of states, the tech industry fears that a parcel of state laws will make it difficult to operate, especially for smaller players.
“A state-by-state approach to‘ net neutrality ’is not feasible,” AT&T said in a statement announcing the change in data limit. “A mosaic of state regulations, many of them overly restrictive, creates barriers to creative and consumer-friendly solutions.”
Network neutrality is the idea that Internet service providers should act neutrally towards the content they host and refrain from accelerating or limiting the delivery speed of certain sites or services. Under California law, which a federal judge said last month could be legally enforced, AT&T said it is not allowed to “sponsor” data for customers who also use its wireless services.
California’s net neutrality law arose as a result of the Trump administration’s decision to undo an 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 would be considered common operators subject to further regulation.
AT&T said it “has long been committed to the principles of an open Internet” and urged Congress to enact federal laws to facilitate Internet access for Americans, “while providing neutrality rules. the network is clear, consistent and permanent for everyone.
– Steve Kopack of CNBC contributed to this report.
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