AT&T finally eases up on SlingPlayer: mobile TV iPhone app now works on 3G

This was an interesting story when it first broke last year. Apparently worried about the amount that mobile data was costing it, AT&T was rumoured to have put pressure on Apple to ban a particular application. But now AT&T has announced that SlingPlayer can run over 3G after all. Also, someone may have had a bit of a chat with Ralph de la Vega about mobile data services.

What’s the story?

SlingPlayer is a company that wants to make TV available on every platform possible. Part of that drive was to release the SlingPlayer iPhone app that would allow you to stream TV onto your iPhone. Last April, Apple refused the app admission to App Store - and the skinny at the time was that this was because AT&T asked them to. Seemingly the app would have been a real data hog and AT&T didn’t want to have to put that much strain on its 3G network.

In May, Apple relented and allowed the app onto the store - but only as a WiFi app.  AT&T refused to allow the app to work on 3G, effectively crippling it.

What now?

Now AT&T has relented - it announced with Sling Media that the app will run on 3G. It also said it was working with other content providers to get more services running on 3G. Ralph de la Vega, CEO and president of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets said that “we look forward to collaborating with other developers so that mobile customers can access a wider, more bandwidth-sensitive, and powerful range of applications in the future.”

What we think?

Wait, what? Is that the same Ralph de la Vega that issued vague but dire threats against people who used too much data? I was never really sure if AT&T had pressured Apple or not - but the ill-considered outburst against mobile data users from de la Vega made it seem a whole bunch more likely. And now he’s coming out in support… I don’t know. I’m starting to think someone took him away after that and explained some things to him.