T-Mobile has made a name for themselves as the Uncarrier, the “think outside the box” wireless network, with their most important goal set as being an advocate for the consumer and shaking up the wireless industry. It shouldn’t surprise anyone then that T-Mobile’s outspoken CEO John Legere spoke against Obama’s recent statements to re-classify broadband as a title II common carrier service. News about Net neutrality has been floating around the web for months and was really anywhere you’d look at one point, but had died down some until very recently when things started heating back up now that the decision to instill new net neutrality rules or leave them as is comes closer.
T-Mobile’s opposition to the statements of Obama are joined by opposition from other major U.S. wireless carriers Verizon Wireless and AT&T, while Sprint had no comment on the matter. In a series of follow up tweets to Leger’s original statement about why he and T-Mobile oppose the initial standing Obama made about re-classifying Net Neutrality policies to make broadband a title II common carrier service, Legere mentions many times over that he is all for innovation while regulation stifles competition and innovation, and that T-Mobile supports Net Neutrality principles of no blocking, no discrimination, and pro transparency.
Some would argue that T-Mobile’s choice to include certain music streaming services as part of their Music Freedom service while leaving others out,(a feature set in place and announced by Legere at the Uncarrier 6 event which lets customers access certain music streaming services without the usage counting against their data buckets)is toying with the thin line between opposing harsh net neutrality regulation policy changes and being OK with them should they be put into place and made a law. At the same time, the music streaming services that are not included as part of Music Freedom at current were stated to be included at some point if the customers request them, meaning that the possibility of such services could be included at a later point if enough people ask for it. Users can also still listen and access those services without data slowdown, so they’re available even if they aren’t part of Music Freedom. Legere also mentions that he favors the use of Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act as it offers a lighter regulated approach, and his tweets are pretty clear about how he feels about regulation in general. What are your thoughts on Net Neutrality?