Letter Urging the FCC to Investigate MetroPCS
Free Press, along with the Center for Media Justice, Media Access Project, New America Foundation Open Technology Institute and Presente.org, filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to investigate claims that new service plans being offered by mobile provider MetroPCS block and discriminate against Internet content, applications and websites.
Last week, MetroPCS, the nation’s fifth-largest wireless provider, announced a new scheme under which MetroPCS — not its customers — will decide which Internet sites and services are important. MetroPCS is advertising unlimited talk, text, “Web browsing” and YouTube at a base price of $40 per month -- with all other uses only available on higher tiers at a higher cost. The plans would effectively create a “walled garden” that excludes Skype, Netflix and other popular consumer Internet services, putting those service providers at a competitive disadvantage and restricting consumer choice and innovation.
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