T-Mobile giving free data for Pokémon GO

Despite sad news that Pokémon GO is yet to be officially available in Malaysia, the game’s popularity is being widely embraced where it has already been launched. Over in the U.S., telco T-Mobile announced its package that provides data exemption for users playing the game.

T-Mobile will be giving data exemption for customers to play Pokémon GO. However, the policy may upset the concept of net neutrality among other apps.
Image source: Android Central

From July 19, customers can sign up to have high-speed data caps exempted while they walk around catching Pokémons for one entire year. In addition, freebies like Wendy’s desserts and even Lyft rides of up to US$15 (~RM60) are even thrown in, encouraging players to travel.

According to The Verge, while providing free data is a way to attract customers, it does violate net neutrality. The concept of net neutrality is having equal competition between websites and apps. When T-Mobile exempts data, it creates an uneven competition between similar apps and websites.

In addition to exempting data for Pokémon GO, T-Mobile has offered exempted data schemes for content ranging from videos to music. Previously, T-Mobile was criticized for downgrading third-party video streams in favor for apps or sites that they have exempted data for.

Source: The Verge