Look at what AT&T is trying to do right now with wireless. They’re “allowing” companies like Netflix to pay for the amount of data that their customers use, with a new “sponsored data” option. AT&T can argue that there’s no “degradation” or “prioritization” of data – they’re just shifting who pays for the data from the consumer to the website owner / content provider. Of course we know this is BS because data caps are BS, but they’ve been able to convince a lot of people that they’re necessary (including government), so they’re just making the next logical step by shifting who pays off the consumer.

The companies that buy (literally) into this scheme would have a clear advantage over those that don’t, because users would have “free” access to their site, without needing to worry about approaching their monthly data cap. This is especially an issue with streaming video. Someone with a more expensive data plan might be able to downgrade & save some money, which seems like a good deal for the consumer (and of course, that’s how AT&T is pushing it).

Now imagine the same thing on landlines. Comcast has suspended their data caps for the time being, but there’s nothing stopping them from reinstating them – and if they were to introduce the same kind of “sponsored data” option as AT&T, they could argue that customers don’t need such a high data cap, because companies can pay for their data. So maybe their new plans only allow 20GB/month, and higher caps are much more expensive. We’ve already seen Comcast try to do something similar with their Netflix clone “Streampix” – they initially exempted the service from contributing to customers’ data cap “bucket” but they got too much backlash because it was obviously anti-competitive for companies like Netflix, and that’s when they suspended data caps all together. Well now there’s nothing stopping a new Netflix clone, let’s call them “Streamflix,” from signing up for Comcast’s “sponsored data” program. And maybe they have some kind of agreement whereby they get all their content from Comcast, but they’re an “independent” company, so, you know, no issues there. But since they have this agreement, they get their content cheaper than, say, Netflix. So while they have to “pay” for their customers’ data, they’re getting the content for cheaper, so they can still charge the same price as Netflix but their data won’t go against your cap. Once again Netflix is the loser, but there was no “degradation” or “prioritization” of data.

The other advantage this gives the internet providers is driving up the cost of streaming video. The company that pays for your data would have to start charging more for their video offerings to make up for it – but this is exactly what AT&T, along with the rest of the internet providers, want – all the sudden, streaming video costs almost the same as cable, so we’re stuck right back where we have been.

And all of this without “degradation” or “prioritization” of data, so they can still claim it’s an “open” internet. We can only hope that companies don’t buy into these new “sponsored data” plans, because once a few big ones do, the rest will all have to fall into place just to compete, and then there’s no going back.

And now we finally see the end-game for data caps. Hopefully Netflix has enough in its coffers to fight the good fight.