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ACM accepts T-Mobile’s commitment: zero-rating service to stop from 31 March 2023

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has accepted the commitment made by telecom operator T-Mobile to stop offering its ‘Data-free Music’ service (in Dutch: Datavrije Muziek) for mobile plans no later than March 31, 2023. With this service, T-Mobile customers can stream music that does not count against their data plans. This is called zero-rating. The European Court of Justice has ruled that zero-rating services are not allowed. T-Mobile has announced that, over the next few months, it will contact existing customers, and offer them a suitable alternative.

Zero-rating is at odds with the Open Internet Regulation, in which the European rules for open internet traffic have been laid down, and which came into force in 2016. The rules in the Regulation offer some room for interpretation. As a consequence, only since the September 2021 ruling of the European Court of Justice, which is the highest court in these matters, has it become definitively clear that zero-rating is not allowed. T-Mobile in September 2021 already stopped offering its Data-free Music service to new customers, but not to existing customers with the Data-free Music service in their plans.

ACM has held numerous conversations with T-Mobile, urging them to comply with the Court’s ruling, and to discuss what T-Mobile will do for customers that will be affected by the discontinuation of said service. ACM has accepted the commitment made by T-Mobile to stop offering its Data-free Music service no later than March 31, 2023, so that T-Mobile will have sufficient time to contact affected customers, and to phase out the service. T-Mobile will keep ACM informed of the progress of this entire process.

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