Following recent news that T-Mobile US will shutter its TVision Home IPTV service on December 30, 2020;

Tammy Parker, Senior Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“T-Mobile’s move to shut down its TVision Home IPTV service, following the launch of its similarly named TVision internet-based streaming TV service, is necessary to eliminate market confusion and smooth the way for T-Mobile’s planned double- and triple-play bundles of services.

“Though TVision Home gave T-Mobile an entry into the pay-TV market, it was never going to provide the kind of scalable, widely available TV service the operator needs to create multiplay offers. However, T-Mobile will be able to bundle its new streaming TVision service with not only its mobile cellular service, but also its fledgling fixed wireless internet service to directly challenge cable companies and other internet service providers (ISPs) that offer similar service combos. The end game for T-Mobile is garnering revenue from its newly built 5G network. 5G technology is currently used for the operator’s mobile service, but will eventually underpin T-Mobile’s fixed broadband service as well. Bundling multiple services will better enable T-Mobile to monetize its 5G network and build customer loyalty.

“The soon-to-be shuttered TVision Home was not much more than a rebranding of the Layer3 TV platform that T-Mobile purchased in January 2018 for $325m. TVision Home had only around 5,000 paying subscribers when it was acquired, and T-Mobile has not been disclosing updated subscription numbers. That IPTV service is currently available in just a handful of markets where it has interconnection agreements with local ISPs, which provide last-mile broadband connectivity for the delivery of the service into subscribers’ homes where TVision Home’s proprietary set-top boxes are deployed.

“T-Mobile’s pay-TV focus is now fully on its TVision streaming service. Despite some reported contractual issues with programmers at its launch, TVision will be a key component of T-Mobile’s future 5G-based multiplay bundle offers.”