T-Mobile is expanding its Binge On initiative that allows users to stream content in certain apps without using up their data allowance, and with today’s update YouTube, Google Play Movies, and many other services are now officially supported.
The two Google services are being added in addition to a handful of others with the notables including: Baeble Music, Discovery GO, ESNE TV, FilmOn.TV, Fox Business, KlowdTV, and Red Bull TV. For YouTube, that also includes YouTube Kids, YouTube Music and YouTube Red.
Google made its own announcement on its blog earlier today, announcing the support for Binge On and explaining that it’s held out until now pending some improvements to the program on T-Mobile’s end that the company has now implemented. Some of those improvements are related to allowing video providers more control over optimizing their video streams for the service, something T-Mobile explained in its own press release today:
Today, T-Mobile announced yet another update and new options for video providers giving them more choice over how Binge On’s video optimization applies to their content. Now video providers can choose to have their content stream at native resolutions – including Ultra HD and beyond – without Binge On’s mobile optimization, using up customers’ high-speed data faster.
The expansion of Binge On brings up the total number of supported video services to over 50 and the company notes that now accounts for around “70% of all video T-Mobile customers stream.” And T-Mobile also said the service is increasing viewership for at least some of the video providers with one unnamed provider reportedly experiencing a 90% increase in active views “and watch-times nearly triple from customers with limited high-speed data.”
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I want to switch to t-mobile badly for these reasons, I would love to be able to stream music and video for free. But t-mobile don’t have t-mobile provided coverage in my area. Their coverage is provided by a partner, not t-mobile directly.
I hope Twitch is next.