T-Mobile announced in May that it was raising prices on some legacy plans, including those previously covered by the company’s price guarantee. In some cases, the price hike was as much as $5 per line per month, as well as $2 per line per month for connected devices.

The magenta carrier is now facing a lawsuit claiming that it reneged on its promises:

Based upon T-Mobile’s representations that the rates offered with respect to certain plans were guaranteed to last for life or as long as the customer wanted to remain with that plan, each Plaintiff and the Class Members agreed to these plans for wireless cellphone service from T-Mobile. However, in May 2024, T-Mobile, Unilaterally did away with these legacy phone plans and switched Plaintiffs and the Class to more expensive plans without their consent.

The lawsuit then goes on to quote then-CEO John Legere’s promise to customers when the Un-contract price guarantee was introduced in 2017 (before being replaced by Price Lock in 2022):

Today, T-Mobile introduced the Un-contract for T-Mobile ONE — and notched another industry first with the first-ever price guarantee on an unlimited 4G LTE plan. With the Un-contract, T-Mobile signs, and the customers hold all the power. Now, T-Mobile ONE customers keep their price until THEY decide to change it. T-Mobile will never change the price you pay for your T-Mobile ONE plan. When you sign up for T-Mobile ONE, only you have the power to change the price you pay.

Given T-Mobile’s marketing surrounding its pricing guarantee, the BBB’s National Advertising Division (NAD) recommended that T-Mobile stop using “Price Lock” to describe its plans.

In each of the challenged advertisements, the description of the “Price Lock” policy appears in text below the claim and states, with some variation, “Get your last month of service on us if we ever raise your internet rate.” NAD found that a disclosure that “Price Lock” does not lock the price but gives consumers one month of free service if certain conditions are met contradicts the main message of the “Price Lock” claim.

Following our initial coverage of the NAD’s decision, a T-Mobile spokesperson reached out to WPN to share a statement disputing the NAD’s conclusion:

We believe the challenged ads clearly communicated our generous Price Lock benefit, which offers customers on eligible rate plans the opportunity to get their final month’s service charges paid by us if their price changes and they let us know they’ve chosen to leave. We will continue to offer Price Lock to customers but will take the NAD’s recommendations for clarifying the offer into consideration.

While that may be T-Mobile’s current explanation of what the Price Lock guarantees (and the plan has changed over the years) , that is most certainly not what Legere vocalized in 2017, nor is it line with some of the company’s other statements.

“Wireless consumers pay Billions extra every year in added surcharges, taxes, monthly fees and carrier price hikes. It’s reached epidemic proportions! And, the carriers just keep inventing new ways to make their customers pay. So, the Un-carrier’s putting an end to it,” said John Legere, then T-Mobile president and CEO in a company press release.

T-Mobile’s marketing and stance was very clear: Other companies hike prices, but we won’t. What customers didn’t realize is that promise only applied until it didn’t.

Apple has been working on its own 5G chip for years, eager to end its dependence on Qualcomm. The two companies have been acrimonious partners, with a history of lawsuits between them. Despite ongoing efforts to switch to its own chips, Apple’s plans have repeatedly been delayed due to the challenges involved.

In a post on X, however, Kuo says Apple is finally ready to make the switch:

Apple is accelerating its move away from reliance on Qualcomm. In 2025, two new iPhone models will ditch Qualcomm’s 5G chips and adopt Apple’s in-house 5G chips: the iPhone SE4 (1Q25) and the ultra-slim iPhone 17 (3Q25).

Ming-Chi Kuo (@mingchikuo) | July 24, 2024

If Kuo is right, and Apple is finally able to switch to its own 5G chips, it would put a significant dent in Qualcomm’s business.

According to the FCC, some 92 million calls were blocked during the outage, including more than 25,000 attempted 911 calls. The agency said all 50 states, as well as Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands were impacted.

“When you sign-up for wireless service, you expect it will be available when you need it – especially for emergencies,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “This ‘sunny day’ outage prevented consumers across the country from communicating, including by blocking 911 calls, and stopped public safety personnel from using FirstNet. We take this incident seriously and are working to provide accountability for this lapse in service and prevent similar outages in the future.”

The agency’s investigation revealed the following findings:

• The outage affected users in all 50 states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. All voice and 5G data services for AT&T wireless customers were unavailable, affecting more than 125 million devices, blocking more than 92 million voice calls, and preventing more than 25,000 calls to 911 call centers.
• Voice and 5G data services were unavailable to customers of other wireless providers that regularly use or were roaming on AT&T’s network.
• It took AT&T at least 12 hours to fully restore service.
• The outage also cut off service to devices operated by public safety users of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). AT&T prioritized the restoration of FirstNet before other services but did not notify FirstNet customers of the outage until three hours after it began, and nearly one hour after service was restored.
• The incident began after AT&T implemented a network change with an equipment configuration error. The report details numerous factors that resulted in the extensive scope and duration of the outage, and it cites the corrective actions since taken by AT&T to prevent a reoccurrence.

The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, the division that handled the investigation, has turned the matter over to the Enforcement Bureau. If the Enforcement Bureau finds that AT&T violated FCC rules, the carrier could face penalties.

The US has engaged in a long campaign to isolate Huawei and other Chinese networking companies. The US has worked to eliminate Chinese equipment and components from US networks, and US lawmakers have pressured the country’s allies to do the same, with many following suit.

According to Reuters, Germany has been in talks with its own phone carriers to phase out Huawei and ZTE equipment from the country’s networks, with the initial focus on ridding Huawei from the core network of 5G data centers in 2026. The second phase would see the company’s equipment removed from antennas, towers, and transmission lines by 2029.

“The government is acting on the basis of the national security strategy and China strategy to reduce possible security risks and dependencies,” a government spokesperson told Reuters.

Verizon’s logo has changed a couple of times over the last decade, with the current incarnation being a refinement of previous versions designed to represent the scope of Verizon’s services.

The company is introducing a new logo: a red V with a yellow glow, which anchors in the Verizon name – Veritas (truth) and Horizon (the future of possibility). The refreshed design system reflects that energy with new color palettes, photography, and new TV and digital formats that reflect the way people live, work and play. These changes will roll out across marketing, digital properties, including the website and apps, and in retail stores in the coming years. This supports the momentum in the business while staying within current investments.

The company touts its new myHome plan combines home internet and entertainment options.

Now, all Verizon Home Internet customers can also benefit from choice, flexibility and value with the launch of myHome: a one-stop shop for internet, entertainment and connected home offerings. Choose content perks from top streaming services for just $10/month. That means great value on Netflix & Max (with ads), Disney Bundle (including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+), YouTube Premium, and Walmart+ membership with an included Paramount+ subscription. Get Apple One and Apple Music Family coming later this summer. With fast, reliable home internet coverage, guaranteed pricing for up to 4 years, no hidden fees, no equipment charges and major savings on the entertainment customers love, myHome brings customers the choice, flexibility, value and most of all, simplicity.

Verizon is improving its trade-in program, accepting any smartphone in any condition as a trade-in across all myPlan unlimited tiers. The company is also launching Verizon Access, a program that rewards customers with pre-sales tickets, giveaways, and more.

Finally, Verizon Business launched an end-to-end smartphone management solution.

“Verizon is one of the most recognizable brands. By listening to our customers, we continue to significantly evolve our offerings and brand promise to connect people when it matters most on our reliable network,” said Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg. “We never stop pushing the industry forward and delivering more value to all of our customers. This next chapter is a continuation of our journey of service and innovation.”

“Verizon is a strong, trusted brand that plays a critical role in people’s lives, but most of what we do is often invisible and behind the scenes. We want to make the invisible, visible,” says Leslie Berland, Verizon Chief Marketing Officer. “The new logo, design system and creative approach pulls inspiration from the company’s heritage while infusing the energy, vibrancy, and experience of life powered by everything Verizon offers.”

According to the FCC, Verizon failed to deliver 911 calls in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee during the period in question. As a result, Verizon has agreed to the fine, as well as a Consent Decree involving a compliance plan to ensure such a failure does not happen again.

The FCC says the December failure resulted in hundreds of 911 calls not going through, and followed another outage in October 2022. Following the October outage, Verizon made improvements to address the issue, but failed to completely fix it.

“When you call 911 in an emergency, it’s critical that your call goes through,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “Today’s action is part of the FCC’s ongoing effort to ensure that the public has reliable communications, including access to 911.”

“The Enforcement Bureau takes any potential violations of the Commission’s 911 rules extremely seriously. Sunny day outages, as occurred here, can be especially troubling because they occur when the public and 911 call centers least expect it,” said Loyaan A. Egal, Chief of the Enforcement Bureau. “We are committed to ensuring communications providers uphold their responsibilities in providing critical 911 services to the American public.”

Moving forward, Verizon will be required to perform risk assessments and establish “enhanced processes for implementing security policy updates” in an effort to ensure such an outage doesn’t happen again.

T-Mobile announced plans in April to crack down on users that were using Home Internet outside of approved coverage areas. While the service will often work in areas the company doesn’t officially support, using it in such areas can overload the network and result in poor performance.

Despite the company’s plans to implement address verification months ago, the company reportedly held up until it could implement a new Away plan, according to The Mobile Report.

It’s still unclear exactly how T-Mobile’s location verification will work, but users that are outside of coverage will need to cancel their service or switch to the Away plan, designed for people on-the-go.

AT&T appears to be trying to force customers away from older, retired unlimited plans. As part of that effort, the company is increasing prices by $10 to $20.

We’re increasing the monthly charge on most of our retired unlimited wireless plans. This change will allow us to provide additional benefits to your plan and continue to deliver the great wireless service you expect. Starting in August 2024, you’ll see the relevant price change reflected on your August bill.

• If you have a single line of service on your plan, your monthly plan charge will increase by $10.
• If you have multiple lines on your plan, your monthly plan charge will increase by a total of $20. This is the total monthly increase, not per line increase.

The good news is your plan isn’t going away. You’ll be getting added high-speed data and hotspot data, and you can continue to enjoy your existing benefits, including unlimited talk, text, and data in and between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, and AT&T ActiveArmorSM mobile security.

While the company says the old plans aren’t going away, it does spend a considerable portion of the webpage highlighting the benefits of its new plans. Clearly, the company wants to move customers to its new options, and is increasing prices of the old plans as an incentive.

T-Mobile has made a big deal of its “Price Lock” guarantee. The only problem is, the company has recently raised prices, including on plans it had previously guaranteed it would never raise prices on. AT&T challenged T-Mobile’s advertising and the NAD agreed.

The NAD made note of how pervasive T-Mobile’s use of “Price Lock” is in the company’s advertising.

The challenged “Price Lock” claim appeared in print, online, and television advertising, including in a television commercial featuring actors Zach Braff, Donald Faison, and Jason Momoa performing a humorous musical number promoting the beneficial features of T-Mobile’s internet service.

The NAD then recommended that the magenta carrier stop using the term, or clarify what it actually means.

In each of the challenged advertisements, the description of the “Price Lock” policy appears in text below the claim and states, with some variation, “Get your last month of service on us if we ever raise your internet rate.” NAD found that a disclosure that “Price Lock” does not lock the price but gives consumers one month of free service if certain conditions are met contradicts the main message of the “Price Lock” claim.

To avoid conveying a misleading message, NAD recommended that T-Mobile discontinue the “Price Lock” claim or modify it to explain, as part of the main claim, that “Price Lock” is a policy that promises customers a free month of home internet service if T-Mobile raises the monthly price and the consumer promptly notifies T-Mobile that they are cancelling their service.

T-Mobile reached out to WPN to share the following statement:

We believe the challenged ads clearly communicated our generous Price Lock benefit, which offers customers on eligible rate plans the opportunity to get their final month’s service charges paid by us if their price changes and they let us know they’ve chosen to leave. We will continue to offer Price Lock to customers but will take the NAD’s recommendations for clarifying the offer into consideration.

T-Mobile has been rolling out its 4G/5G Home Internet for several years, giving customers in underserved areas a viable option for high-speed access. The company is now applying its Home Internet network to providing households with a way to stay connected when their traditional internet goes down.

The company explains in on its site:

Nearly 20% of U.S. internet users said their internet goes out at least a few times a month, according to data from CivicScience. It’s something nearly everyone has experienced — at the most inconvenient time, the internet goes down and all productivity is lost. With T-Mobile’s new Home Internet Backup plan, cable and fiber internet customers can get peace of mind knowing they have a way to stay online during those unexpected outages.

The plan comes with 130 GB of 5G data per month, more than enough to stay connected during occasional down times. The company provides a 5G gateway for not extra cost or monthly fees.

The services costs $30 per month with AutoPay enabled, or $20 a month for T-Mobile voice customers.

Rumors started swirling three weeks ago that T-Mobile and Verizon could be interested in carving up UScellular. At the time, it was believed a deal with T-Mobile was closer, with a likely value of more than $2 billion. In contrast, a deal with Verizon was seen as uncertain.

T-Mobile says it has reached a deal with UScellular to pay roughly $4.4 billion for UScellular assets, “in a combination of cash and up to $2.0 billion of debt to be assumed by T-Mobile through an exchange offer to be made to certain UScellular debtholders prior to closing.”

The deal will give T-Mobile control of “substantially all of UScellular’s wireless operations,” including the company’s customers and “certain specified spectrum assets.”

T-Mobile says UScellular’s spectrum help it improve its rural coverage.

“With this deal T-Mobile can extend the superior Un-carrier value and experiences that we’re famous for to millions of UScellular customers and deliver them lower-priced, value-packed plans and better connectivity on our best-in-class nationwide 5G network,” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile. “As customers from both companies will get more coverage and more capacity from our combined footprint, our competitors will be forced to keep up – and even more consumers will benefit. The Un-carrier is all about shaking up wireless for the good of consumers and this deal is another way for us to continue doing even more of that.”

“T-Mobile’s purchase and integration of UScellular’s wireless operations will provide best-in-class connectivity to rural Americans through enhanced nationwide coverage and service offerings at more compelling price points,” said Laurent Therivel, CEO of UScellular. “The transaction provides our customers access to better coverage and speeds, as well as unlimited texting in more than 215 countries, content offers, device upgrades and other T-Mobile benefits.”

T-Mobile is well-known for its Uncarrier initiative, giving customers the features they want at a reasonable price. As a result, the company’s announced price hike was unexpected, as the T-Mobile has not raised prices on legacy customers for years.

Unfortunately, the company is now raising prices on those accounts $5 per line per month, and $2 per line per month for connected device plans, such as tablets and wearables.

The company was quick to point out that this is the first such price hike in nearly a decade, and that it is still cheaper than its competitors.

We’re committed to offering the best value in wireless.

Even with these changes, T-Mobile customers still pay less, saving an average of approximately 20% vs AT&T and Verizon for comparable services and streaming.

?You’ll keep all the benefits you currently enjoy, including access to America’s largest and fastest 5G network, and no further action is needed from you.

It’s a common practice within the wireless industry to give new customers incentives to switch. Often, however, existing customers are left in the cold, unable to benefit from those deals despite their loyalty to the brand.

Metro is looking to change that with its new Metro Flex plan.

“Think about this, if two people walk into a prepaid store and one is brand new and the other is a five-year customer, only one of them gets the best deal on a new smartphone … and it’s not the longtime customer! Talk about some major yada yada,” said Jon Freier, President, T-Mobile Consumer Group. “Prepaid customers have been taken for granted for far too long, so we’re taking a stand today with Metro Flex. Now, customers get a free phone when they join and the same great phone deals as new customers when they stay — and it’s all because Metro is the only prepaid provider that values your business.”

Under the new plan, customers can switch to Metro and receive a free 5G phone. Existing customers can trade in their phone every 1, 2, or 3 years and take advantage of the same Metro Flex deals available to new customers.

That’s all there is to it. Just bring your current number and ID and get our best deals on devices from top brands like Samsung, Motorola and REVVL (more on that in a minute!). Plans start at $50/month with AutoPay ($55 today and $50 after that when you sign up for AutoPay). You’ll have the comfort of knowing that when it’s time for a new phone, you’ll get the same great deals as new customers on select devices, because it’s all part of the plan.

Satellite-based cellular networks are becoming an important factor in providing coverage to remote areas. T-Mobile inked a deal with SpaceX in mid-2022 to provide coast-to-coast coverage, thanks to satellite-based service.

AT&T’s deal with AST SpaceMobile extends until 2030, with the latter deploying its first commercial satellites this summer. Like SpaceX, AST SpaceMobile is deploying low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, meaning they provide faster speeds and lower latency than traditional satellite services of the last decade. As a result, LEO satellite constellations can often rival terrestrial broadband services.

Because the satellites are being used to deliver traditional cellular service, customers benefit by being able to use the service with their existing phones, rather than being required to buy satellite-specific phones.

“Space-based direct-to-mobile technology is designed to provide customers connectivity by complementing and integrating with our existing mobile network,” said Jeff McElfresh, Chief Operating Officer, AT&T. “This agreement is the next step in our industry leadership to use emerging satellite technologies to provide services to consumers and in locations where connectivity was not previously feasible.”

“Working together with AT&T has paved the way to unlock the potential of space-based cellular broadband directly to everyday smartphones. We are thrilled to solidify our collaboration through this landmark agreement,” said Abel Avellan, AST SpaceMobile Founder, Chairman, and CEO. “We aim to bring seamless, reliable service to consumers and businesses across the continental U.S., transforming the way people connect and access information.”

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon sell “unlimited” plans, but have not always been clear about the real limits of those plans. In many cases, once users reach certain data usage thresholds, the quality and speed of service is reduced until the next billing cycle.

“New Yorkers, and all Americans, deserve to know that when they buy a service or product, they will be treated fairly and can trust what the seller is saying,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile lied to millions of consumers, making false promises of free phones and ‘unlimited’ data plans that were simply untrue. Big companies are not excused from following the law and cannot trick consumers into paying for services they will never receive. We will continue to go after companies that hurt everyday Americans and try to take advantage of this basic and critical service.”

The settlement requires the three carriers to pay $10,224,135 and to clarify their advertising and marketing. In particular, “unlimited” plans can only be marketed as such if there are no limits on the amount of data used per billing cycle.

The settlement also requires carriers to be more upfront regarding promotions that offer “free” phones and devices, including what consumers must do to qualify. The carriers must also disclose the terms of promotions that promise to pay customers to switch from other carriers, as well as to have a reasonable basis to advertising the “savings” customers will experience from switching.

Carriers will also be required to appoint personnel to work with state AGs to address consumer complaints.

In addition, the companies must appoint a dedicated representative to work with the attorneys general to address ordinary complaints filed by consumers. They must also train their customer service representatives to comply with the terms of the agreement and implement and enforce a program to ensure compliance.

The settlement addresses many of the common sense complaints consumers have had regarding wireless carriers for years.

U.S. Cellular is one of the largest, and last, regional carriers that is well-liked by its users. The company has reportedly been struggling to compete against the three national carriers and leading to a possible sale.

According to The Wall Street Journal, T-Mobile and Verizon are in talks to buy different parts of the business in hopes that split-sale deal will avoid regulatory issues. T-Mobile’s deal could be valued at more than $2 billion and could wrap up as early as this month. Verizon’s deal is not nearly as far along as T-Mobile’s, and may not even result in a deal.

WSJ says the rising cost of wireless licenses is a major motivation for the deal. U.S. Cellular has spectrum in 30 states, covering more than 50 million people, meaning the company can cash in at a time when those licenses are commanding a premium.

If U.S. Cellular does sell its operations, it will mark the end of an era for the wireless industry.

Neutral Host Network is designed to overcome one of the major challenges organizations have with mobile networks, namely spotty coverage in a particular area with one or more of the major networks that provide coverage. This can result in some personnel having a strong signal, while others are barely able to use their device. Neutral Host Network solves this issue by working with all major carriers that opt in, giving users access to the strongest available signal.

Cummins has signed on to use Neutral Host Network, along with Verizon’s Private 5G.

The Verizon Neutral Host Network allows employees and visitors to enjoy a strengthened mobile signal on the grounds of the plant, and the Verizon Private 5G Network will help transform the facility to adopt additional industrial use cases now or as needed in the future. These uses include autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for handling and transporting materials, computer vision for defect detection, AR/VR for training and troubleshooting, sensors for machine health monitoring, and proprietary applications governing secure onsite operations.

“I am thrilled for the potential that the Neutral host and Private 5G Networks will provide at JEP to expand our communications using wireless technologies,” said Shawn Hricko, Plant Manager at Cummins Jamestown Engine Plant. “These increased capabilities will allow us to implement Industry 4.0 strategies more quickly and more reliably. The improved functionality will enable team members to communicate with one another more effectively, allow us to share more data across equipment and enable our ability to implement mobile Industrial robots (MIRs). Collectively, these improvements will enable us to produce our engines more safely, more efficiently and with improved quality, which is a win for Cummins and our customers who rely on our products on a daily basis.”

“Cummins’ technology- and innovation-focused approach to doing business allows them to get the most out of this dynamic Neutral Host and Private 5G combination,” said Jennifer Artley, Senior Vice President of 5G Acceleration, Verizon Business. “All the connectivity bases are covered with this solution, and the efficient architecture makes it cost-effective, easy to maintain, and easy to add onto as operations grow and evolve. Plus, employees and guests onsite can keep their normal cellular connectivity without any headaches or extra steps. It’s a truly holistic solution.”

T-Mobile Home Internet is an unlimited cellular-based internet option that offers 4G and 5G service, depending on tower availability. The service is especially popular for customers in locations that lack traditional high-seed internet options.

In the past, T-Mobile requires users to sign up with an address that fell within an area the company serviced with its Home Internet. However, it was easy to give the company a different address, and then use the service wherever the user wanted—including an address that wasn’t technically covered. Still others used the service on-the-go, such as when RVing around the country.

According to The Mobile Report, the company is changing its policy, forcing users to verify their location in order to use the service. The company says the measure is necessary to ensure its network doesn’t get overloaded, especially in areas that don’t have the capacity to support Home Internet.

T-Mobile does provide options for mobile users, but they are significantly more expensive and have limited data.The company is clearly going to try to push mobile Home Internet users to those plans.

T-Mobile previously introduced throttling for new customers who used large quantities of data, but long-time customers were exempt. According to The Mobile Report, that is changing as the company expands the throttling to all customers who use more than 1.2TB in a month.

As the outlet goes on to point out, there’s still much we don’t know about the new limit. Some reports suggest Home Internet users may be prioritized higher than they were before, up to the 1.2TB limit, meaning they could actually see improved performance as long as they stay under the cap.

Either way, 1.2TB is high enough that the vast majority of users probably won’t be impacted.

The FCC is preparing to re-introduce net neutrality, legislation that would prohibit carriers from penalizing certain traffic, either by type or by competitor. Professor van Schewick says there’s much to like about the FCC’s net neutrality rules.

The FCC released its draft rules early in April and there’s much to celebrate in them. Mobile carriers like T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon that have been degrading video quality for mobile users will have to stop. The FCC kept in place state neutrality protections like California’s net neutrality law, allowing for layers of enforcement. The FCC also made it harder for ISPs to evade net neutrality at the point where data enters their networks.

She then goes on to say that the rules do leave a large loophole for carriers to exploit.

However, there’s a huge problem: the proposed rules make it possible for mobile ISPs to start picking applications and putting them in a fast lane – where they’ll perform better generally and much better if the network gets congested.

T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon are all testing ways to create these 5G fast lanes for apps such as video conferencing, games, and video where the ISP chooses and controls what gets boosted. They use a technical feature in 5G called network slicing, where part of their radio spectrum gets used as a special lane for the chosen app or apps, separated from the usual internet traffic.

As van Schewick points out, ISPs are already openly discussing such efforts, meaning fast lanes are more than just a hypothetical problem. The professor then goes on to highlight the issue of ISPs being allowed to implement such fast lanes.

These kinds of ISP-controlled fast lanes violate core net neutrality principles and would limit user choice, distort competition, hamper startups, and help cement platform dominance.

Net neutrality means that we, the people who use the internet, get to decide what we do online, without interference from ISPs. ISPs do not get to interfere with our choices by blocking, speeding up or slowing down apps or kinds of apps. Apps compete on a level playing field, and users, not ISPs, determine which apps are successful.

Letting ISPs decide which apps get to be in a fast lane violates these principles. Apps that are in a fast lane work better than those that are not, especially when the network is busy and apps in the regular lane start suffering. If HBO Max is in a fast lane, it will continue to work well even if the network is busy, while all other video is buffering.

Differences in performance, including relative differences in performance, matter. Even small differences in load times affect how long people stay on a site, how much they pay, and whether they’ll come back. Those differences also affect how high up sites show in search results.

Thus, letting ISPs choose which apps get to be in a fast lane lets them, not users, pick winners and losers online.

The whole point of net neutrality is to provide a level playing field, ensuring carriers and ISPs cannot throttle speeds and penalize specific services, apps, or platforms. Professor van Schewick makes a compelling case that the FCC must be as diligent about shutting down internet fast lanes as it is about addressing throttling. Until that happens, ISPs will continue to exercise undue influence over the very nature of the internet and hold the keys to other companies’ success or failure.