Sprint customers with unlimited-data plans will soon enjoy free access to Hulu, Variety reported Wednesday.
The Overland Park, Kansas-based wireless company will include the “limited-commercials” package for the video-on-demand streaming service for $7.99 a month.
Reuters, meanwhile, reported that a Sprint executive said the company is working to offer Hulu’s live-TV subscription plan to its customers in 2018, likely at a discount over the service’s a la carte cost.
Sprint subscribers who already have Hulu can merge their accounts by visiting www.sprint.com/hulu, Variety said.
With its partnership of Hulu, Sprint becomes just the latest wireless company to sweeten the pot for subscribers with video offerings. T-Mobile already provides free Netflix for unlimited-data subscribers while unlimited-data AT&T users can get HBO gratis.
These partnerships involving unlimited-data plans appear to be less controversial to somewhat similar sponsored-data arrangements whereby wireless customers on metered-data plans can have a “zero rating” for certain video content —meaning the data used from qualifying apps or services don’t count against the subscriber’s data limit.
Opponents of sponsored-data plans argue that such moves are in violation of federal regulations mandating a policy of “net neutrality,” an objective forwarded under the Obama administration’s FCC, whereby all data used on internet networks is to be treated equally
The advent of the Trump administration, however, has seen a staffing shift on the FCC that appears to herald a change in its interpretation, at least, of what constitutes net-neutrality violations.
In February, for example, the FCC ended an ongoing investigation into wireless providers’ “sponsored data” plans, with newly installed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai heralding the plans as “hav[ing] enhanced competition in the wireless marketplace,” Reuters reported at the time.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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