In principle, the “Binge On” feature launched by T-Mobile US could cause congestion problems.
True, the plan is available for customers on service plans featuring data allotments of at least 3 GB a month, so not every customer account will be able to take advantage of the ability to stream entertainment video from 24 providers without debiting the data usage bucket.
Still, video is a dangerously bandwidth-heavy app, and encouraging customers to watch streaming video on their mobiles at what is effectively a “no incremental charge” basis, could tax the network.
It all depends on how many consumers actually decide to change their viewing patterns, where they want to consume video and at what time of day, how well the pre-processing system works, and how many customers are added, and how many upgrade, to service plans that allow them to use the new feature.
T-Mobile’s ability to avoid new network congestion issues, which will cause consumer unhappiness, also hinges on whether existing patterns of Wi-Fi offload remain the same, or change.
In recent years, in many markets, Wi-Fi has represented 66 percent of all mobile data consumption. Some other estimates have 70 percent of mobile data is offloaded to Wi-Fi, in at least some markets.
So T-Mobile US probably assumes that most of the incremental usage will happen at times and places on its network when the additional load can be handled. That is to say, much of the incremental new traffic will occur where it already happens: inside customer homes or at other non-mobile locations where offload to Wi-Fi is available.
Lots of new customers, with moderate viewing patterns, will generate enough new revenue that T-Mobile US can afford to bolster its network with new spectrum over the long term, and more intense use of its network in the short term.
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