One of AT&T's big announcements at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has open Internet advocates crying foul.
Last week, the telecom giant unveiled the sponsored data program for its wireless network, a program that will allow businesses to foot the bill for the bandwidth of their videos, applications or other content, rather than counting it against subscribers' monthly data caps.
For digital rights groups like Public Knowledge and Free Press, the plan of the nation's second-largest wireless provider appears another step toward a pay-for-play Internet where carriers and well-heeled companies can reach agreements that amount to giving preferential treatment to certain types of content over others. Businesses that could not afford to pay—garage startups are a favorite example—might find themselves at an even steeper competitive disadvantage against their larger and more established rivals.
AT&T bills the plan as a boon for consumers, promising no-cost delivery of popular content from companies that choose to participate. The company says sponsored and non-sponsored data will be delivered at the same speed, but that content from a participating company will be marked as such so consumers will know that it won't count against their data plan.
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