T-Mobile has officially launched its pay TV service, TVision Home, a rebranded and upgraded version of Layer3 TV that will retail for $90 per month.
The company had been selling Layer3 TV service in its stores since last year, with prices set at $99.99 or $79.99 for T-Mobile wireless subscribers. TVision also will include a $9.99 per month discount for T-Mobile wireless subscribers but the company said that discount will extend to everyone for a limited time. The package includes more than 150 channels, local broadcast, regional sports and access to on-demand content and premium channel add-ons, including HBO. TVision Home has more than 275 channels available, including 4K channels.
T-Mobile will also charge $10 per connected TV, and that includes the whole-home DVR offered with the plan. But, T-Mobile said that it intends to soon offer its service on third-party TV platforms, and will roll out a companion app for iOS and Android so subscribers can stream TV to their mobile devices.
The carrier today reiterated its plans to launch a nationwide streaming service later this year. The company recently announced a distribution deal with Viacom for that service.
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At the outset TVision Home will be available in the Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., metro areas, as well as Longmont, Colorado. The company said other markets are coming later this year. TVision Home goes on sale April 14 in stores and online.
T-Mobile is going heavily after satellite TV subscribers with its Satellite Freedom offer, which will pay off early termination fees (with up to a $500 prepaid card) for DirecTV and Dish Network subscribers who switch over to TVision Home.
TVision Home is also working on expanding its slate of streaming services with plans to integrate Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube and YouTube Kids in the future. At launch, apps from Pandora, iHeartRadio, XUMO, CuriosityStream, Toon Goggles and HSN will be available on the platform.
T-Mobile also is building in features that include on-screen social content from Facebook and Twitter, a personalized home screen and DVR for each user, smart speaker voice control with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, and access to connected security cameras. With TVision Home, the company pledges to do away with any bill increases or add-on fees like broadcast, HD, activation and early termination fees.
“With TVision Home, your price stays the same, unless you change it. Period,” T-Mobile said in a news release.
TVision Home is an IPTV service that will tie in heavily with T-Mobile’s plans to launch a nationwide 5G wireless network and leverage the extra bandwidth to offer fixed wireless broadband service. The carrier's nationwide 5G will be available as soon as 2020, but the company has said it needs to complete its acquisition of Sprint and its wireless spectrum to achieve massive capacity gains. That new combined company intends to market home broadband in 52% of U.S. zip codes.