There are very few consumer services with ubiquitous appeal. Phone service (mobile, fixed), internet access and entertainment video are the big three services. After that, everything is a niche. Likewise, there are a couple of big drivers of enterprise and business communications (data services now primary, but with some important unified communications requirements).
So the obvious business strategy for any tier-one service provider is to compete across the full range of consumer and business customer core needs: triple play for consumer; data and voice for businesses, across a wider geography.
For telcos and mobile service providers, video entertainment is the biggest single driver. For cable companies, business communications is the big carrot.
Other potential businesses, including a range of internet of things apps, are contestable. But as an immediate and sizable growth driver, nothing is so tangible, and likely to add to the revenue picture, as fast as taking market share in one of the core communications segments.
So T-Mobile US has introduced “TVision Home,” its over the top linear video service for fixed network customers, in eight U.S. markets, apparently where its Layer 3 networks already had been available.
T-Mobile US also announced it will launch nationwide streaming services later in 2019, presumably based on use of T-Mobile’s own 5G network as well as an OTT app.
TVision Home 275-plus available channels and over 35,000 on-demand movies and shows. On-screen social content, a personalized home screen and DVR for each user, smart speaker voice control with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, and access to security cameras are part of the service.
TVision Home launches with apps for Pandora, iHeartRadio, XUMO, CuriosityStream, Toon Goggles and HSN.
There also is a bit of regulatory arbitrage. Fixed network service providers are required to pay local fees and taxes that TVision Home is not liable for. That allows it to sell a service costing less than cable or telco suppliers.
The implications are clear enough. T-Mobile US is getting into the linear video business, to compete with cable TV operators and telcos. At the same time, it is getting into the live TV streaming business (linear, rather than on-demand), with on-demand video services such as Netflix also accessible as part of the app.
The bigger question is whether 5G mobile TV, in this form, also will begin to show consumer appetite for linear video consumed on mobile devices. Mobile service providers have offered the ability to listen to broadcast radio and TV for decades, but with no real traction. The shift to the full palette of managed video channels is new, though.
Among the questions is how some consumers might start to use the service, casting to TVs, for example.
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