Caveats in Three UK’s New “Go Binge” 4G Plans with Unlimited Streaming

Customers on almost all of Three UK’s “Advanced” 4G Mobile plans (i.e. those with a data allowance of 4GB or more) can now benefit from the operator’s new “Go Binge” service, which provides “unlimited data … for streaming video and music” from Netflix, Deezer, Soundcloud and TVPlayer.

The new service sounds ideal for those who have a capped plan but would still like to stream lots of TV shows and Movies via Netflix etc. However there are a few caveats, other than the ones already stated in our opening paragraph, such as the fact that on TVPlayer the unlimited streaming only seems to include the Dave and History channels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0kXX9jYspM

Customers must also have at least some of their data allowance remaining in any billing cycle in order to benefit and on top of that Go Binge only allows streaming in old fashioned Standard Definition (SD) video quality. The decision to limit unlimited streaming in this way is clever because many modern SD streams only need about 0.25-0.5Mbps to work and that will keep the load on Three UK’s network under control.

Sadly if you want to watch videos in High Definition (HD), which is kind of necessary in order to get a decent quality on modern Smartphones with their HD, 2K and even 4K screens, then you can “choose to opt out of Go Binge at any time and use your standard data allowance instead.” The free streaming also doesn’t cover “some additional content” (e.g. adverts), which may still come out of your regular data allowance.

Dave Dyson, CEO of Three UK, said:

“We know that from our extensive insight that bingeing on content has become part of everyday life, yet people have been unable to do that on the go as much as they’d like due to fears of exceeding data limits.

It’s my ambition to unlock any restrictions that stop consumers from enjoying their mobiles and using them to do the things they love. With Go Binge we are the first network in the UK to give people the freedom to use their data to stream their favourite shows and music without any boundaries and without worrying about restrictive data allowances and charges.”

Obviously you also need to be a subscriber to the aforementioned third party streaming services in order to benefit, which in some cases may incur a separate monthly fee. Go Binge is available for use within the UK and Three UK’s roaming Feel At Home destinations around the EU, although it’s noted that some services are not available overseas while roaming due to licensing conditions.

However we do wonder whether Three UK’s new zero rated plan might end up catching Ofcom’s eye when they next come to review the UK’s self-regulatory approach to Net Neutrality, which means that broadband ISPs and Mobile Network Operators cannot impose excessive restrictions against Internet traffic (i.e. no serious blocking or slowing of access to legal websites or Internet services, with a few exceptions for issues of security etc.).

Last month the regulator found that “there are no major concerns regarding the openness of the internet in the UK” (here), although they did point a questioning finger at several short lived mobile offers. It’s possible that “Go Binge“, which gives some preference to specific streaming services (others have been invited to join but we don’t know at what cost), might cause a bigger problem for the regulator.

On the other hand Three UK are not directly reducing the performance of rival services and Go Binge is both optional as well as restrictive, in terms of video quality. We’ll be interested to see what Ofcom says when it publishes another report in 2018.