AT&T has announced it will start counting HBO Max against wireless data plans, ending a previous exemption.
Streaming HBO Max did not previously count against an individual’s data plan. No matter how much a person streamed the service on their phone or tablet, it had no bearing on their wireless plan’s data limits. In contrast, competing services such as Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, fuboTV and others counted.
AT&T is now ending that exemption, beginning March 25, citing California’s net neutrality law.
“A state-by-state approach to ‘net neutrality’ is unworkable,” AT&T said in a statement, according to CNBC. “A patchwork of state regulations, many of them overly restrictive, creates roadblocks to creative and pro-consumer solutions.”
Net neutrality laws are designed to make sure all services are treated fairly, with no service being given an unfair advantage. Although the FCC reversed the Obama-era net neutrality rules, a court ruled that individual states could enact their own.