Could T-Mobile Be Launching Their TVision Streaming TV Service Nationwide on Oct. 27?
T-Mobile will be making a huge un-carrier move soon. According to a new teaser video posted by T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert yesterday, the news is coming as soon as Oct. 27 and whatever the surprise is, it has nothing to do with the company as a phone carrier.
In the teaser video, which stars Rashida Jones, the actress is on the phone with customer support and is frustrated over some confusing fees listed on her bill. On the other side of the phone is Sievert, who chimes, “You know what? It’s time,” as he sits in front of a TV with the words “It’s on.”
It’s time to do something about this…
— Mike Sievert (@MikeSievert) October 22, 2020
#Uncarrier pic.twitter.com/tgrhgA5xnc
TmoNews speculates that because the “letter ‘O’ in the phrase ‘It’s on’ has a play button and is similar to the letter ‘O’ in T-Mobile’s TVision logo,” T-Mobile’s Oct. 27 announcement will be about their TVision home TV service.
The home TV service was first launched in April 2019. TVision costs $90 a month (no extra broadcast or RSN fees) and is currently available via a proprietary set-top box. The service has 150-plus channels, with add-ons like HBO available for $6 a month. It offers an HD DVR as well as supports voice control for Alexa and Google Assistant.
The service is currently only available in select areas nationwide, which include Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Longmont, CO.
In July, news broke that T-Mobile was developing a streaming device that will run on Google’s Android TV, according to some FCC documents. It would was speculated that the new device might be part of a plan to expand TV Vision nationwide.
Though images of the device itself weren’t provided with the FCC listing, based on images of the remote, the device will allow users to stream live TV and access over-the-top streaming services. The remote has shortcuts for T-Vision, a DVR and channel guide, as well as Netflix and YouTube. It also has a large Google Assistant button.
The FCC documents showed that the new device will be produced also SEI Robotics, a Chinese hardware company that also produces the AirTV Mini, TiVo Stream 4K and a number of other Android devices.
In April 2019, T-Mobile inked a deal to bring top ViacomCBS (then just Viacom) channels – including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount Network – to a mobile video service originally slated for 2019 that has yet to come to light.
As part of the announcement of the Viacom deal, Former T-Mobile John Legere shared: “TV programming has never been better, but consumers are fed up with rising costs, hidden fees, lousy customer service, non-stop BS. And Macgyvering together a bunch of subscriptions, apps and dongles isn’t much better. That’s why T-Mobile is on a mission to give consumers a better way to watch what they want, when they want.”
T-Mobile’s announcement is slated for 11:30 a.m. ET on Oct. 27.