Disney Plus: Streaming television showdownĪT&T has been offering this 'sponsored data' program to video streaming service providers since 2014.

Net neutrality's ultimate champion keeps on fighting.

Since mobile customers pay for the data they use, you as a video provider may want to pay for your customers to stream your service without having to worry about paying for the data charges, thus providing customers an incentive to use your service over someone else's that incurs data charges. Let's say you offer a streaming video service. So instead of the customer paying for the data, the company pays for it. Under the 'sponsored data' or 'zero rating' business model, AT&T allows a company to pay it for data charges that a customer incurs while using that company's service. But the practice, also known as zero-rating, is not without controversy. To help give the new service a boost, AT&T is allowing its wireless customers, who don't subscribe to an unlimited plan, the option to stream the service without fear of going over their data plans. Other entrants now include Disney Plus and NBCUniversal's Peacock, owned by Comcast. News of AT&T's plan to 'zero rate' the HBO Max video stream was first reported by The Verge.ĪT&T's WarnerMedia launched its HBO Max streaming service last month, making it one of several rivals in the streaming wars trying to unseat leaders, Netflix and Amazon's Prime Video. 'This is similar to arrangements some of our competitors have.' 'This is based on a sponsored data arrangement and is a program we offer on the same terms to any entities who wish to sponsor data for their customers,' a spokesman told CNET.

The company isn't counting usage from its own streaming service, but competing services like Netflix and Disney Plus can still eat up data plans.ĪT&T confirmed in an email to CNET on Wednesday that wireless subscribers streaming HBO Max video won't incur data charges, which the company said will help its customers save money.

AT&T wireless customers without unlimited data plans won't have to worry about going over their data usage when streaming HBO Max.

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