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T-Mobile will launch its home TV service, TVision Home, in eight US markets on April 14 and plans to expand the service to more markets later this year.
Business Insider Intelligence
TVision Home is a rebranded version of Layer3 TV, an IP-based cable service T-Mobile acquired in January 2018. The service starts at $100 per month for general customers, though T-Mobile subscribers will receive a $10-per-month discount.
The service provides access to over 275 channels and more than 35,000 on-demand shows and movies. T-Mobile will also integrate social media like Facebook and other streaming media apps like Pandora, in addition to Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon Prime Video.
What it means: T-Mobile is moving away from its disruptive nature with TVision Home as it enters a dying industry.
- US consumers are increasingly ditching traditional home TV. Cord-cutting — or canceling pay-TV subscriptions in favor of internet-delivered alternatives — is becoming increasingly popular. The total number of US pay-TV subscribers dropped 4.1% year-over-year (YoY) in Q4 2018, 3.4% in the same period of 2017, and 2% in Q4 2016. The shrinking pool of pay-TV subscribers means that T-Mobile will need to clearly differentiate its service from its competitors to attract subscribers.
- The service lacks a competitive price advantage. TVision Home’s starting price point is on par with the average US cable bill ($107.30 per month). But that price doesn’t include the additional $10 per month charge for each additional connected TV that can access the service. Given consumers in North America are tired of these high prices — 87% of consumers who ditched cable cited the high costs as their reason for leaving — there’s likely no incentive, especially for non-T-Mobile consumers, to sign up for the service.
The bigger picture: T-Mobile’s home TV service is a play for the eventual 5G broadband package it plans to launch with Sprint.
TVision Home is currently available with wired broadband, but the service is designed to work with — and likely be featured in — T-Mobile’s upcoming 5G home internet service. This means that, eventually, TVision Home will be able to forgo a cable box and instead be accessed on an app through a variety of low-cost streaming devices.
Additionally, the introduction of the service can help bulk up the carrier’s 5G home internet package, especially since alternative providers — like Spectrum or AT&T — also offer TV services with their home-internet plans.
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See Also:
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- These are the strengths and weaknesses of Verizon’s live 5G network, according to early reports
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SEE ALSO: 5G AND THE IoT: How the next generation of wireless technology will transform the IoT
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (George Paul)