Online TV Service to be Launched by T-Mobile in 2018

Helped by its acquisition of Layer3 TV a television startup, T-Mobile plans to expand its momentum in wireless to providing TV service.

The wireless carrier, which has seen steady growth in customer base for the past four years, announced on Wednesday that in 2018 it would launch a TV service. Layer3, based in Denver, operates a TV subscription service online across five states bringing together social media, streaming services and live channels.

The new T-Mobile TV service will become available to anyone with a connection to internet both at home and across mobile devices, said COO Mike Sievert during a conference call.

Not many details were released by T-Mobile about what the cost of the service would be or when it would be launching in 2018. However, it did cite its displeasure of having long term contracts, which is something that made the no-contract T-Mobile phone service so popular.

The Uncarrier campaign at T-Mobile looks to entice customers away from the other carriers through offering its users unlimited streaming and a plan of one size fits all for one flat rate monthly.

Following its third quarter, T-Mobile had over 70.7 million subscribers, which was 1.3 million higher from its prior quarter.

The Uncarrier idea will now become a part of the TV service, the company said on Wednesday. John Legere, the outspoken T-Mobile CEO denounced his competitors Comcast and AT&T for offering bundle services like internet, video and wireless that gives lower rates to customers but makes them purchase services like landlines that they do not want.

The TV service from T-Mobile will be part of a package, said company executives, but will give customers a host of options.

The company is already providing free subscriptions to Netflix to subscribers who have a minimum of two lines on its T-Mobile One plan. It is not clear if that too would hold true for the new TV service that Netflix is certainly going to be part of.

Terms of T-Mobile’s Layer3 acquisition were not discussed. The TV service will remain headquartered in Denver, and the deal is expected to close during the next couple of weeks.

This deal has been negotiated for quite some time and would have taken place even if the failed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint was finalized.

With the purchase of Layer3, T-Mobile has joined its bigger peers Verizon Communications and AT&T in a shift strategically to video and media ventures as new growth in the wireless industry has been difficult to come by.