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T-Mobile Announces Internet TV Service Coming in 2018

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T-Mobile today announced that it will launch its own over-the-top TV service in 2018, which will be fueled in part through the acquisition of Layer3 TV. Details about the service are scarce, but T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that it will continue the company's theme of being a "disruptive" solution to its rivals, this time in both the internet TV and paid cable markets.

Layer3 TV will help T-Mobile build the service, which is said to provide solutions to lengthy contracts, increasing monthly bill costs, confusing bundles, outdated user interfaces, and more. T-Mobile will fold in Layer3 TV's current services and expand it to a wider audience. Right now this includes select TV channels, streaming online video content, and social media, but is only available in five U.S. cities.

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Non-finalized demo of T-Mobile's upcoming service via T-Mobile's YouTube channel​
"People love their TV, but they hate their TV providers. And worse, they have no real choice but to simply take it - the crappy customer service, clunky technology and outrageous bills loaded with fees! That's where we come in. We're gonna fix the pain points and bring real choice to consumers across the country," said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. "It only makes sense for the Un-carrier to do to TV what we're doing to wireless: change it for good! Personally, I can't wait to start fighting for consumers here!"
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T-Mobile's service will enter a busy streaming TV market, which currently includes DirecTV Now, Hulu with Live TV, PlayStation Vue, Sling TV, YouTube TV, and many more. Companies are even beginning to offer internet streaming bundles that focus on catering to specific audiences, like Philo, which is aimed at viewers not interested in sports channels and offers much cheaper monthly costs.


T-Mobile and Sprint almost merged recently, but the companies called off the merger in November because they were unable to find "mutually agreeable terms." At the time, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that while a deal with Sprint was a "compelling" idea, it would have needed to offer "significant benefits" for both consumers and shareholders.

Article Link: T-Mobile Announces Internet TV Service Coming in 2018
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/12/13/t-mobile-internet-tv-service/
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How do you get it onto your TV? Will there be an app for all popular streaming boxes?

Can you access it over your current home internet provider? Or is it T-Mobile LTE wireless only?

EDIT:

I did some research into Layer3 TV (the company T-Mobile acquired)

They have a proprietary set-top box and it uses your home internet. (but it's somehow tied to a local fiber backbone... which is why it's only available in certain markets.)

So unless they've changed it... this is not a normal over-the-top service like YouTubeTV, SlingTV, PlayStation Vue, etc.

Oh... and Layer3 TV is at least $90 a month at the moment.

They're not trying to be a cheaper cable company alternative... they're trying to be a better cable company, period.

"You're not going to sign up for us because you're going to save money," said Jeff Binder, co-founder and CEO of Layer3 TV. "You're going to sign up for us because you're going to get a lot more value for the same price."

"We built a proprietary network," Binder said. "The upside of that is enhanced quality and performance. The downside is you can't be everywhere."

Thoughts? Does this sound like anything T-Mobile should get their hands into?

We don't yet know what T-Mobile's Layer3 TV service will cost... but you'll still need to pay for home internet in order to use it.

While it's true that you need internet to use YouTubeTV and others... they're only around $35/mo... not $90
 
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No announcement on pricing?

YouTube TV is $35 per month, you can share it with 6 people, and is now available in 80 metro areas (all of which offer ALL the local channels, a rarity in streaming. Most like Sling and Vue only offer one to two local channels with only the big giant cities having all locals streaming). You also get the massive backend of YouTube and I've never seen slowdowns even during big sporting events. Their unlimited DVR is also a big plus too.
 
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Lightsout565 said:
No announcement on pricing?

YouTube TV is $35 per month, you can share it with 6 people, and is now available in 80 metro areas (all of which offer ALL the local channels, a rarity in streaming). You also get the massive backend of YouTube and I've never seen slowdowns even during big sporting events. Their unlimited DVR is also a big plus too.
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True, but commercials kind of ruin it. If it was strictly dvr and they quit forcing that on demand crap at you...
 
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Lightsout565 said:
No announcement on pricing?

YouTube TV is $35 per month, you can share it with 6 people, and is now available in 80 metro areas (all of which offer ALL the local channels, a rarity in streaming. Most like Sling and Vue only offer one to two local channels with only the big giant cities having all locals streaming). You also get the massive backend of YouTube and I've never seen slowdowns even during big sporting events. Their unlimited DVR is also a big plus too.
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cardfan said:
True, but commercials kind of ruin it. If it was strictly dvr and they quit forcing that on demand crap at you...
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Agreed, paying $35/month for commercials? No thanks. I am done with paying to watch commercials. I dont care about ESPN so over the air is fine enough plus Netflix, Amazon, etc.
 
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I like T Mobile because they broke the phone subsidy model for all the wireless carriers. However, they have been slowly creeping up their price over the year by adding small gimmicks to their service and bundling it in. On average it really is not much cheaper on average because they shifted costs around.

For example, after the T-Mobile Un-Carrier started, everyone got rid of their unlimited plans. Now unlimited plans are back. Everything is full circle.

I imagine T-Mobile will bundle it like AT&T bundles Direct TV Now. If it is $70 for one line, it will be $100 with that line and TV. Also, there is nothing stopping the internet provider from charging you up the wazoo for only getting internet and not bundling it. Although I am glad T-Mobile is entering this space, it really is nothing game changing at this point.
 
OldSchoolMacGuy said:
More stuff T-Mobile customers will think they're getting for free without realizing there is no such thing as "free" and everything offered is added in to the cost of their service.
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Except that tmobile is cheaper than just about everyone else while doing it. Cheaper than verizon(but that's not hard to do), cheaper than AT&T even with my work discount. Not sure how they compare with sprint(but it's sprint, c'mon)
 
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Once Net Neutrality is dead, you'll get slightly cheaper service and TV bundles with commercials--or an expensive premium service without commercials.
 
WannaGoMac said:
Agreed, paying $35/month for commercials? No thanks. I am done with paying to watch commercials. I dont care about ESPN so over the air is fine enough plus Netflix, Amazon, etc.
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Yep. One of the reasons I won't get hulu. Even their no subscription tier has commercials on some stuff. They only keep so many episodes of a show and they don't offer surround sound. Useless.
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barkomatic said:
Once Net Neutrality is dead, you'll get slightly cheaper service and TV bundles with commercials--or an expensive premium service without commercials.
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Once net neutrality is dead they will jack the prices to whatever they want. While the ISP's begin slowing or blocking traffic to their competitors.
 
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OldSchoolMacGuy said:
More stuff T-Mobile customers will think they're getting for free without realizing there is no such thing as "free" and everything offered is added in to the cost of their service.
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Why do people think they know better than everyone else? Nobody thinks its free. But there are good deals and there are bad deals. It remains to be seen what deal they offer. Its up to the individual to decide if they like the deal or not. People are not as stupid as you think they are, nor are you as smarter than everyone else as you think you are.
 
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This sounds similar to what Apple has been trying to do for years, but hasn't yet been able to put all the pieces in place. I'll hold judgement until there are more details but so far T-Mobile's solution seems to be similar to what's already available piecemeal from various apps. The difference is that it sounds like T-Mobile will make some sort of one-stop shop interface, much like Apple's original plan. But I would assume that once bundled with your mobile device bill, the charges won't be much different from what you would pay for cable services anyway.
 
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OldSchoolMacGuy said:
More stuff T-Mobile customers will think they're getting for free without realizing there is no such thing as "free" and everything offered is added in to the cost of their service.
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If they get comparable or better service and the cost of that service is less than what they're paying, what does it matter if it's marketed as free?
 
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OldSchoolMacGuy said:
More stuff T-Mobile customers will think they're getting for free without realizing there is no such thing as "free" and everything offered is added in to the cost of their service.
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Of course it's not going to be "free". I do end up with quite a bit of "free" stuff from T-Mobile though. I pay $41 per month for 2 lines (unlimited talk, text, and 4 GB LTE) after taxes and fees [this is a family plan so there are other lines but each line ends up about $20/month]. That's not free but it's a better price than I've found elsewhere.

Then there are T-Mobile Tuesdays promos (about $40 of Dunkin' Donuts gift cards over the past year or so, $0.25 off per gallon of gas, which has saved me about $60 so far, etc.).

So yes, nothing is free but I've looked at other providers and no one can provide the same benefit/cost ratio as T-Mobile (this includes MVNOs - Red Pocket comes close in value but not quite in benefits). The T-Mobile promos are perks on top of the already great value.

/I'm really not a T-Mobile shill (I'm in higher education and research) but I give credit where it is due.
 
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Beyond the Super Bowl and the Oscars I struggle to find any use for linear TV. Paying $30-$40 a month for access to these 2 events is ludicrous. Please T-Mobile, concentrate on your core business and get my cell signal in New York back to what it was a couple of years ago.
 
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OldSchoolMacGuy said:
More stuff T-Mobile customers will think they're getting for free without realizing there is no such thing as "free" and everything offered is added in to the cost of their service.
Click to expand...

Right now I'm paying T-Mobile exactly $70.00 per month for unlimited service, including mobile hotspot, inclusive of all taxes and fees. Previously, I wan paying AT&T upwards of $100 per month, in addition to a slurry of hidden and variable taxes and fees, and mobile hotspot wasn't allowed.

"Free" might be a BS marketing term, but the fact remains that T-Mobile is offering better service, at dramatically lower costs than their competitors.
 
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