T-Mobile and the FCC are eyeing one another over net neutrality rules. The telephone provider’s Binge On program limits the download speeds of some videos in exchange for unlimited video elsewhere, and it’s exactly the kind of program that has raised concerns about net neutrality.

“I think the commission has to tread lightly,” said Kathleen Ham, T-Mobile Senior VP of Government Affairs at a net neutrality event on Feb. 4.

Conversations are ongoing between T-Mobile and the FCC, which is reaching out to many mobile carriers to try to find the best balance in the business models that handle data.

“The commission has to tread lightly, and certainly more lightly than for the wired world in the wireless space — when there is so much experimentation happening, so much differentiation happening,” Ham said. “And a lot of it customers responding to. We do have to be transparent about it. We have to make sure the customer has choices, but I think it is wise to tread lightly in this environment when there is so much going on.”

Current FCC rules are in place in order to keep service providers from either slowing or accelerating their internet service based on paid subscriptions. T-Mobile’s program entails zero rating, or excluding some services from data caps – something about which the FCC does not yet have formal sanctions.

Ham did say that Binge On is likely to “evolve over time” as the company refines it. Verizon also has a zero rating program. Meanwhile, the FCC will be working on determining how it wants to handle zero rating.

 (Via The Hill, Ars Technica.)