Samsung will allow Verizon-owned Oath to load new bloatware on phones around the world

It's not only Verizon-locked Galaxy S9 and S9+ variants that will be getting a number of apps owned by Big Red subsidiary Oath pre-installed. Soon enough, the bloatware partnership is set to expand around the world.

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NFL deal done: Verizon-owned outlets to stream in-market games on all carriers

Customers of any carrier in the United States will be able to access local matches on the Yahoo Sports, go90 or NFL Mobile apps.

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Verizon admits to “optimizing” amid accusations of Netflix throttling

It's not just Netflix: YouTube and Verizon's own go90 service is being affected. Is there a net neutrality issue here? It comes down to technicalities.

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FCC policy on zero-rate streaming hardens towards AT&T and Verizon

The Federal Communications Commission initially liked the idea of letting ISPs charge nothing to stream select content. The commission now has determined that it doesn’t like seeing the content providers zero-rate their own internet service for their own content.

In letters to AT&T and Verizon (which we have just linked), the FCC has expressed concern over the cellular carriers’ practices in offering their content — through DIRECTV NOW and go90, respectively — free to stream for their customers without incurring data charges. The commission believes that by limiting zero-rating opportunities to their own franchises, the two telcos come into breach with the 2015 Open Internet Order — part of the order’s goal is to “increase choice and lower costs for consumers.”

Essentially, while it costs nothing on a consolidated basis for AT&T and Verizon to zero-rate their own programs, that would not necessarily the case for any other content provider wishing to participate in zero-rate activities with the two companies.

Using AT&T’s figures for DIRECTV NOW, it would cost a content provider over $1.50 every month to zero-rate a minute of video streamed daily over LTE. Multiply that cost over multiple shows watched per day by many own-brand customers and the bill may prove too burdensome for competitors to shoulder.

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief Jon Wilkins has requested that both companies provide specific usage data for its services as well as competing services on its network and/or for its customers, including how much of the traffic is zero-rated. Wilkins also asks for expectations of consumers’ use of all services regarding internet and content. Responses are due on December 15.

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Minimal Verizon bloatware on Pixel can be uninstalled

Here’s one less thing we have to worry about other than locking ourselves into a Verizon-backed Google Pixel.Not only do we get to allay ourselves from checkmarks everywhere on the device, but we also have only three pre-installed apps from the carrier: My Verizon (actually useful),

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Verizon brings free data to its own go90 streaming video service – is that still net-neutral?

Net neutrality may be the law of the land, but carriers aren’t about to sit idly by and treat all content as equal while there’s money to be made by doing the opposite. So while paid prioritization may be out the window so long as the FCC is getting its way, carriers have been quick to come at things from another direction, championing the rise of “zero-rated” data schemes that allow content providers to get their media to users without those viewers having to use their expensive mobile ...

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Verizon’s go90 video app may soon offer free-to-consume data

The idea of being able to access certain online services without that data counting against your monthly wireless data allotment is a super-controversial one right now, with moves like T-Mobile’s BingeOn program bringing what’s known as zero-rated data to the public’s attention. Even as the FCC starts taking a closer look at the practice, more and more players are interested in getting involved themselves, and Verizon’s recently indicated that it’s looking into sponsored data ...

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Verizon’s go90 streaming service now has its first original series

How does a start-up streaming video service compete with original series like “Top Gear” and “Orange is the New Black”? We don’t know, we’re just on YouTube and have more than a million subscribers (thank you so much, by the way). But will a comedy series be the end of Verizon’s go90 service?It might not really end up as a “Fatal Decision” on Verizon’s part, but CollegeHumor production team Big ...

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