T-Mobile US has completed its takeover of Layer3 TV and started a website for consumers to start registering interest in its upcoming TV service, set for launch later this year. The company said the new "disruptive" service will be open to anyone, not just T-Mobile customers, and will not be bundled with its mobile services.
T-Mobile said it saw a strong response on social media when it first announced in December the acquisition and plans to launch a TV service. The company plans to target frustration with "Big Cable and Satellite TV, America’s #1 most hated industry". Its TV service will be available over any mobile or fixed internet connection, "even those slower ones from AT&T and Verizon" and in rural areas where T-Mobile coverage is not yet available, the company said.
T-Mobile’s new TV team will be led by Jeff Binder, CEO of Layer3 TV, who has joined T-Mobile as an Executive Vice President and part of the Senior Leadership Team, reporting to T-Mobile’s Chief Operating Officer, Mike Sievert. Binder is joined by nearly 200 Layer3 TV employees including his executive leadership team including Lindsay Gardner, former President of Distribution at Fox; Dave Fellows, former CTO of Comcast and AT&T Broadband; Amos Smith, former SVP and CFO of Time Warner Cable Residential Services; and Gregg Grigaitis, former SVP Products of Suddenlink.
While T-Mobile develops its new TV service, the existing Layer3 IPTV service will be available to demo or purchase in select T-Mobile stores in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, starting in the coming weeks. Started in 2013, Layer3 delivers its TV services over a broadband connection and set-top box, integrating channels and features similar to cable TV as well as OTT providers.