T-Mobile adds NBC, Spotify, Google Play Music, Tidal, other streaming services to Binge On
Customers of T-Mobile can now stream more than 80 video services without chewing up their cellular data. — by , Lance Whitney — T-Mobile is bent on retaining subscribers and winning …
Context & Ripple Effects
Binge On started in November 2015 as a 24-provider free-streaming tier that exempted video from data caps but deliberately left out YouTube. That standoff ended when YouTube and Google Play joined after criticism of the throttling baked into the program, and January brought Amazon Video, Fox News and an easier opt-out. With this update the roster passes 80 services, and notably pulls in audio — Spotify, Google Play Music and Tidal — alongside NBC's video catalog.
First-order effects
- T-Mobile subscribers can stream NBC, Spotify, Google Play Music and Tidal without touching their cellular data allowance, deepening the retention hook the carrier built with Binge On.
- Spotify, Tidal and NBC gain zero-rated distribution on T-Mobile's network at no cost to the listener, while comparable services outside the program effectively cost users data.
Second-order effects
- Every major rival service now has a reason to negotiate its way into Binge On — YouTube's reversal after holding out shows exclusion is untenable once competitors are in.
- AT&T and Verizon face pressure to answer with equivalent zero-rating programs of their own or cede the heavy-streaming subscriber segment to T-Mobile.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, zero-rating stops being a promotion and becomes table stakes, giving carriers de facto gatekeeping power over which streaming services grow — and reviving the net-neutrality argument over sponsored data.
The trend: Carriers are shifting from selling raw data buckets to curating zero-rated content bundles, turning inclusion deals into a competitive battleground among streaming providers.