In December 2017, T-Mobile purchased Denver-based video startup Layer3 TV for $325 million and loudly proclaimed it would apply its disruptive “uncarrier” wireless strategy to the pay TV business.

Since then, not much has changed for the erstwhile Layer3 TV service. It was rebranded to “TVision” and the top Layer3 executives have moved on. Founder and CEO Jeff Binder, who was initially put in charge of T-Mobile’s video operation following the acquisition, left in May 2019. Lindsay Gardner, chief content officer for T-Mobile, is leaving at the end of this month.

The $90-a-month TVision service hasn’t expanded beyond the limited number of major markets — including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — where it already was when T-Mobile made the Layer3 deal.

But government filings are offering glimpses of what’s happening next with TVision.

Federal Communications Commission filings have recently been unearthed that reveal a revised TVision CPE platform, based on the same SEI Robotics HDMI dongle that’s used for Dish Network’s Android TV-powered connected TV product, AirTV Mini.

The remote control is the same, too, featuring buttons dedicated to the Google Play store, YouTube and Google Assistant — all linchpins of the Android TV platform.

Meanwhile, in its product marketing and its SEC filings, T-Mobile describes TVision as the pay TV service that it will roll out alongside fixed wireless 5G services.

“TVision Home is being purpose-built for the 5G future,” T-Mobile says on its website, when you click on the 5G Vision link situated on the main menu tab of the TVision landing page. “We’re getting ready for a world where 5G replaces home broadband and TVision Home will replace your cable TV — and launching a complete, high-end home TV service is a key part of that strategy.”

Following the April closure of its $26 billion Sprint acquisition, T-Mobile last month told the Securities and Exchange Commission in a filing that its “significantly enhanced spectrum position” will enable it to accelerate plans for its 5G fixed-wireless play.

“The enhanced in-home broadband opportunity, along with the acquisition of certain content rights has created a strategic shift in our TVision Home service offering to developing a video product which will be complementary to the in-home broadband offering and which we believe is necessary to enable higher penetration into the in-home broadband market,” T-Mobile said in the filing.

What’s going on with TVision Home, the $90-a-month pay TV service that T-Mobile ostensibly plans to widely deploy along with its 5G rollout?

That question has renewed urgency amid the reported departure of yet another top video executive from the wireless company. 

Light Reading first reported that veteran media executive Lindsay Gardner, chief content officer for T-Mobile, is set to leave the company later this month. Gardner confirmed his exit to Next TV. 

A T-Mobile rep also told Next TV that the wireless operator doesn’t comment on departures “outside of our executive leadership team, out of respect for people’s privacy.”

Perhaps the fact that the former Fox Networks and Miramax executive, who is considered T-Mobile’s top video content leader, isn’t considered part of the company’s executive leadership group tells us all we need to know about why he’s leaving?

Also read: T-Mobile: Everything You Need to Know About the Newly Expanded 'Uncarrier's' 5G-fueled Push into Streaming

Gardner joined T-Mobile as part of the so-called Uncarrier’s $325 million purchase of Denver-based pay TV start-up Layer3 TV in early 2018. According to the Light Reading report, he might “re-engage” with Layer3’s original backers, TPG Growth, the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and Paulson & Co. 

The Denver-based Gardner’s departure comes 14 months after Layer3 TV founder and CEO Jeff Binder, who served as T-Mobile’s top video exec after the purchase, also left the company. (The Harvard graduate now lists himself as CEO of Denver-based “Harvard Venture Partners.”)

Founded in 2013 and launching in Chicago in 2016, Layer3 TV billed itself as a kind of premium cable TV service, targeting customers who didn’t mind large pay TV bills, but who wanted a better technological and service experience. Layer3 TV had expanded to a handful of U.S. cities—New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.—, when T-Mobile acquired the company.

Under Binder, T-Mobile rebranded Layer3 TV as TVision, offering a $90-a-month base tier of 154 channels, 1 terabyte of DVR storage (about 400 hours of recordings), integration with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, and access to streaming services and social media.

To date, however, TVision hasn’t expanded much—if any—beyond its limited Layer3 TV reach. 

In its product marketing, and in its SEC filings, T-Mobile describes TVision as the pay TV service that it will roll out alongside fixed wireless 5G services. 

“TVision Home is being purpose-built for the 5G future,” T-Mobile says, when you click on the 5G Vision link situated on the main menu tab of the TVision landing page.  “We’re getting ready for a world where 5G replaces home broadband and TVision Home will replace your cable TV – and launching a complete, high-end home TV service is a key part of that strategy.”

Meanwhile, following April closure of its $26 billion Sprint acquisition, T-Mobile last month  , indicating that its “significantly enhanced spectrum position” will enable it to accelerate plans for its 5G fixed-wireless play. 

“The enhanced in-home broadband opportunity, along with the acquisition of certain content rights has created a strategic shift in our TVision Home service offering to developing a video product which will be complementary to the in-home broadband offering and which we believe is necessary to enable higher penetration into the in-home broadband market,” T-Mobile said in the filing. 

So, beyond chewing through the Sprint integration, which is still in its early stages, what’s the holdup with TVision’s national rollout? 

T-Mobile has been aggressive in marketing third-party SVOD services, underwriting a base Netflix subscription for its unlimited data wireless subscribers since 2017. It kicked off a similarly branded “Quibi on Us” promotion involving the struggling $4.99-a-month mobile-first video streaming platform in April. And it’s inheriting Sprint’s promotion that delivers free base Hulu service to unlimited data subscribers. 

Also read: Will T-Mobile Soon Offer ‘Hulu on Us,’ Too?

Light Reading also reported earlier this year that T-Mobile was re-engineering TVision’s technology platform, enlisting pay TV technology vendor MobiTV. The blog said in May that the process was done.  

Notably, in its June 8-K filing, T-Mobile seems to indicate that welding TVision to the developing fixed wireless play may be the cause of the delay. 

“As a result of the change in the stand-alone product offering plans and timing, we are completing an interim goodwill impairment analysis for the stand-alone Layer3 reporting unit,” the wireless company said. "We anticipate the analysis will result in a non-cash impairment in the Layer3 reporting unit goodwill of $218 million (the “Layer3 Goodwill Impairment”) for the quarter ended June 30, 2020.  Any impairment would impact Net Income but would be excluded from Adjusted EBITDA.”

Dish Network ended days of speculation that had been swirling around its pending purchase of Boost Mobile, saying in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it will close its $1.4 billion purchase of the prepaid wireless service on July 1.

The news sent Dish shares up by more than 7% in early trading Thursday. The stock was priced at $37.59 each, up 6.5%, or $2.30 per share, at 10:30 a.m. on June 18.

In a brief SEC filing June 17, Dish said it had agreed to close the deal on July 1. Speculation had been high that the satellite giant was trying to renegotiate a lower price for the deal, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some analysts also predicted that Dish may have been trying to assure that Boost customers would have access to handsets compatible with the T-Mobile cellular network. 

Dish agreed to purchase T-Mobile’s Boost Mobile business earlier this year, part of the concessions the wireless carrier made in obtaining federal regulatory approval of its $26 billion purchase of Sprint. Dish had agreed to purchase Boost for $1.4 billion, and also pledged to purchase 800-Megahertz wireless spectrum from T-Mobile for $3.6 billion over three years. Dish also agreed to a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement with T-Mobile that would give it access to the larger company’s mobile network over seven years.

In a separate filing, T-Mobile said it now expects to add between 800,000 and 900,000 new postpaid wireless customers in Q2, up from previous estimates of between 0 and 150,000 additions. The company said the change reflected a faster than expected recovery in retail and new opportunities in its business segment. T-Mobile said its coronavirus-related costs were $450 million and merger-related expenses were between $800 million and $900 million.

T-Mobile also said it expects to take a $218 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge to its Layer3 TV unit in Q2, due to a “strategic shift” in its TVision Home pay TV service. T-Mobile purchased Layer3 for $325 million in 2018.  

In the SEC filing, T-Mobile said its enhanced spectrum position -- from the Sprint purchase -- will allow the company to accelerate its in-home broadband strategy.

“The enhanced in-home broadband opportunity, along with the acquisition of certain content rights has created a strategic shift in our TVisionTM Home service offering to developing a video product which will be complementary to the in-home broadband offering and which we believe is necessary to enable higher penetration into the in-home broadband market,” T-Mobile said in the filing. “We believe the strategic shift will allow for greater competition and customer value by offering a more complete product suite for these customers.”

Also in a separate filing, T-Mobile said it has named SVP finance and chief accounting officer Peter Osvaldik as its new EVP and chief financial officer, replacing Braxton Carter, who will retire on July 1.

Carter, who spent 19 years at T-Mobile, will serve the company in a strategic advisory role for at least three months to ensure an effective transition, with an additional three months at the company’s option, through Dec. 31.

Osvaldik joined T-Mobile in January 2016 as vice president, external reporting and technical accounting. He was promoted to senior vice president, finance and chief accounting officer in June 2016. Prior to T-Mobile, Osvaldik held chief accounting officer, controller and manager roles at Outerwall, Coinstar and PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

Jeff Binder, who headed T-Mobile’s video business since the wireless company bought his pay TV start-up Layer3 TV at the beginning of 2018, quietly left the company earlier this week, T-Mobile confirmed.

Robert Gary, senior VP in the T-Mobile Home and Entertainment Division, which Binder led, has stepped in as general manager of the unit, reporting to T-Mobile COO Mike Sievert. Gary has responsibility for both TVision, T-Mobile's new pay TV service, and the wireless company's home internet initiative. T-Mobile said the move makes sense in that it combines TV and home internet under one common management structure.

Light Reading first reported the news.

Binder’s departure comes just weeks after T-Mobile launched a rebranded version of Layer3 TV, called TVision, in the eight markets in which Layer3 TV had already been available.

Since announcing its purchase of Layer3 in December 2017—a deal reported to be worth $318 million—T-Mobile had been promising a “disruptive” TV service. The launch of the $90-a-month TVision Home service is said to be a precursor to a national, mobile-centric service, based on 5G technology, that will supposedly launch after T-Mobile closes on its purchase of Sprint and puts its 5G plans in motion.

“Say goodbye to exploding offers and hidden fees, and say hello to more 4K, personalized TV that learns you, a huge lineup of your favorite channels and a massive on-demand library!! This is just the beginning and there are some amazing things to come!! #wewontstop” tweeted Binder on April 14 after the TVision launch.

The reason for Binder’s departure has not been reported. But T-Mobile is crediting the veteran pay TV executive for getting TVision Home launched. Binder is said to be interested in getting back into the start-up game.

Before founding Layer3, Binder was was co-founder, president and CEO of Broadbus Technologies, which was acquired by Motorola in 2006.

With T-Mobile still trying to close its Sprint purchase, other changes at the company appear to be afoot, including a shakeup of the marketing department that was outlined in an internal memo, also released earlier this week. 

Fourteen months after acquiring pay TV start-up Layer3 TV and promising massive disruption of the video business with a new nationally distributed service, T-Mobile says it’s finally ready to unveil its new platform in the first half of this year.

Don’t look for the third biggest wireless carrier in the U.S. to compete in the crowded virtual pay TV market, where DirecTV Now, Sling TV, Hulu+ with Live TV, YouTube TV, Sony PlayStation Vue, fuboTV and others are competing with similar linear-like bundles of live-streamed networks.

What T-Mobile is describing is an a la carte, subscription aggregation model that sounds like—wait for it—Amazon Channels.

“We don't have plans to develop an undifferentiated skinny bundle out there,” said T-Mobile President and COO Mike Sievert, speaking during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday. :There are plenty of those. We think there's a more nuanced role for us to play in helping you get access to the great media brands out there that you love, and to be able to put together your own media subscription in smaller pieces $5, $6 $7, $8 at a time.”

But while it sees a future in aggregating the subscriptions of other services, Sievert also joined the legion of video executives putting the yellow caution flag up in terms of peddling its own subscription service, with Disney and WarnerMedia set to launch new paywalled platforms in the next 24 months.

“It’s subscription palooza out there,” Sievert said. “Every single media brand either has or is developing an OTT solution, and most of these companies don't have a way to bring these products to market. They're learning about that. They don't have distributed networks like us. They don't have access to the phones like we have.”

In making its case for a proposed merger with Sprint, T-Mobile argues that the retail and customer scale achieved via that deal will help T-Mobile develop and launch a truly competitive and disruptive national pay TV service.

RELATED: T-Mobile, Sprint File With FCC

T-Mobile acquired Layer3 TV in late January, setting the stage for a national OTT TV service that will compete against other virtual MVPDs as well as incumbent pay TV providers. T-Mobile has not outlined specific plans for how that national offering will be priced and packaged, but has stressed that it will disrupt the pay TV market and take advantage of speedy, next-gen 5G-based mobile networks.

RELATED: T-Mobile Paid $325 Million for Layer3 TV

Prior to the acquisition, Denver-based Layer3 TV has focused on a full-freight, in-home, in-market managed IPTV service featuring 4K-capable boxes and a lineup of more than 275 HD channels starting at about $89 per month. Layer3 TV currently offers service in a handful of markets -- including Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington D.C.; Dallas/Ft. Worth; and Longmont, Colo. -- and had plans underway to extend service to New York, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

In the redacted public interest statement (PDF), T-Mobile noted that the acquisition of Layer3 TV gave it a “foothold” in the pay TV market, but also pointed to a challenge faced by Layer3 TV in the early going -- it is paying a sizable premium for its programming deals.

Per T-Mobile’s estimates, Layer3 TV’s content acquisition costs are between 20% to 30% higher than its larger MVPD rivals for the same programming. That challenge isn't Layer3 TV's alone, as it's also faced by other new pay TV entrants that don’t have large subscriber bases and, therefore, possess limited bargaining power with programmers.

Because of those higher licensing costs, T-Mobile held that further expansion of that business “will be limited for T-Mobile on a standalone basis” as Layer3 TV’s smaller customer base “does not provide the scale needed to leverage volume discounts.”

While that challenge will continue as Layer3 TV tries to beef up its sub base before the next round of programming renewals (T-Mobile added 5,000 “branded prepaid customers” to its reported sub base as of January 22 following the Layer3 TV acquisition), T-Mobile said a combination with Sprint will go a long way in creating scale for a mobile distribution network that can deliver a new pay TV service on a national basis.

T-Mobile also held Layer3 TV’s business, on a standalone basis, is presently hindered by consumer dependence on in-home broadband service from incumbent cable operators.

“Without these offerings, which are expensive and often contain monthly usage caps, Layer3 customers cannot access the company’s services,” T-Mobile said.

RELATED: Comcast Deploys 1-Terabyte Data Plan

However, T-Mobile believes that by matching up with Sprint, they can drive scale into 5G deployments that can expand the reach of Layer3 TV’s service. T-Mobile held that its current standalone network won’t have the capacity to handle projected future consumer demand for mobile video, absent the Sprint transaction.

RELATED: T-Mobile’s Jeff Binder: 5G Is ‘Perfect Delivery Mechanism for Video’

“In the near term, the customer and retail scale created by the transaction [with Sprint] will enable T-Mobile to more rapidly expand the current Layer3 model than possible without the transaction,” T-Mobile said. “This scale should allow the company to acquire content at lower rates and on better terms than T-Mobile and Layer3 can do on their own.”

T-Mobile’s estimate on how much lower those rates would be were redacted in the public version of the document, but believes that it would allow it to create a more affordable pay TV options for consumers. “The competitive imperative will demand that Layer3 pass these cost savings on to consumers through lower prices and more flexible rate offerings,” the company said.

T-Mobile: 5G Poised to be Viable In-Home Broadband Alternative

T-Mobile also used the filing to characterize 5G as a “bona fide alternative” to traditional in-home broadband service providers rather than just a more limited complement.

“The new 5G network’s speeds, capacity, and low prices will allow consumers to ‘cut the cord’ and use their mobile wireless service as their broadband service both inside and outside the home and pocket the savings from eliminating an unnecessary and costly wired broadband bill month after month,” T-Mobile claimed.

By combining with Sprint, the merged company is positioned to create a national 5G network that will close the speed gap between mobile and wired broadband and enable the company to compete in the in-home broadband services market against conventional ISPs and drive down prices.

By way of example, T-Mobile said a consumer might pay $80 per month for wired in-home broadband and $60 for mobile wireless service. Using 5G, T-Mobile argued that the same customer could take the wired broadband portion out of the picture and pay $60 for an equivalent combo of mobile service and in-home broadband.  

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based MVPD, will be among a select group of pay TV providers that will offer Fox Sports’ live coverage of the 2018 World Cup tournament in 4K.  

Layer3 TV said it will make all 64 World Cup matches, starting with Thursday’s kick-off fixture between Saudi Arabia and host Russia, available in 4K, and will provide that coverage on two 4K channels.   

RELATED: World Cup 2018 Sets Stage for Video Tech Showcase  

Layer3 TV, acquired by T-Mobile in January, supports 4K on every set-top box and doesn’t charge extra for 4K content. To enjoy that content in its full, pixel-packed glory, Layer3 TV customers will also need a 4K-capable TV set. 

“The World Cup is one of those events that the entire world tunes in for, and our subscribers expect the best quality picture possible for every corner kick and goal,” Jeff Binder, executive vice president of T-Mobile Home + Entertainment, said in a statement. “Fox’s passionate soccer fans can get closer than ever to the fields this year with 4K resolution on Layer3 TV.”  

Layer3 TV began to offer live and VOD content in 4K in March 2017, and today offers channels in the format such as Insight UHD and Nasa TV UHD.  

RELATED: Layer3 TV Adds Live, On-Demand 4K Fare 

Layer3 TV currently offers a managed, in-home-focused IPTV service in markets such as Washington, D.C.; Dallas; Longmont, Colo.; Los Angeles, Calif.; and Chicago. T-Mobile is also working on a national, OTT-delivered version of the service that’s expected to launch later this year.  

RELATED: T-Mobile’s Jeff Binder: 5G Is ‘Perfect Delivery Mechanism for Video’ 

Among other U.S.-based MVPDs, DirecTV will offer live 4K HDR coverage of World Cup 2018 to customers with the right tech set-up. Dish Network will offer the games in 4K format, according to TVAnswerman.com. Comcast X1 subs with 4K-capable boxes will have access to Telemundo’s 4K coverage of the World Cup on a VOD, next-day basis.  

DENVER -- 5G’s promise of faster speeds teamed with low latencies make the emerging next-gen mobile technology a great fit for video and pay TV services, Jeff Binder, executive vice president of home and entertainment at T-Mobile, said here Tuesday at the Pay TV Show.

“5G is the perfect delivery mechanism for video,” offering improvements over 4G/LTE, said Binder in a keynote conversation at the event, put on by Fierce and parent company Questex.

Binder, who joined T-Mobile following the mobile service provider’s acquisition of Denver-based Layer3 TV, reiterated that leading the 5G wave is a key component of the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint.

RELATED: T-Mobile Paid $325 Million for Layer3 TV

Binder wouldn’t reveal much more new detail about T-Mobile’s plans for an OTT-delivered pay TV service in the wake of its acquisition of Layer3 TV, with respect to pricing and packaging, but said the plan remains to bring to bear a “disruptive” offering. He also reconfirmed that the current plan is to launch that product later this year.

Prior to the acquisition, Layer3 TV was largely focused on an in-home, full-freight pay TV service with 4K-capable boxes delivered over IP. Moving forward, T-Mobile’s plans is to bridge the TV with the more advanced and personalized capabilities that consumers get with their smartphones.

The TV has “been an island in the home,” Binder said. “Mobile and TV [today] look more alike than less alike." T-Mobile intends to change that, he said, adding that the plan is also bring T-Mobile’s “Uncarrier” principles to the pay TV realm.

“It’s more than branding,” Binder said of the Uncarrier approach, holding that T-Mobile’s approach has changed the wireless/mobile industry.

Pay TV, which continues to see subscriber numbers erode, is “ripe for disruption in that sense,” he added.

He said the T-Mobile deal will bring scale that Layer3 TV didn’t have on its own.

Before the deal, Layer3 TV was focused on an in-home product in a handful of markets, and found that the acquisition costs “were pretty reasonable,” Binder said.

RELATED: Layer3 TV: A Different Kind of Animal

However, the big challenge for a new, relatively small entrant is reach and cost of marketing, Binder pointed out. “You need scale. Scale is really important.”

Binder also hinted that the coming product won’t be a mobile-only play or rely solely on TV-connected devices that would only come from the company.

“We’ll look at various ways to serve what the customers want,” he said. “It’s about how customers want to consumer video.” 

T-Mobile’s pending merger with Sprint and its recent acquisition of Layer3 TV will help to power a new “quad play” that includes speedy wireless broadband and pay TV services, company execs said on Tuesday’s Q1 earnings call.

RELATED: T-Mobile, Sprint to Combine in $146B All-Stock Deal

With an eye toward 450 Mbps via a national 5G network, “of course, we can be a competitor in that [broadband services] space,” Braxton Carter, T-Mobile’s CFO, said, when asked if wireless can be viewed as a wireline replacement. “And this is a market that is incredibly underserved…There’s a huge opportunity here for us to bring real competiveness to that market for the first time.”

T-Mobile’s ambitions for entering the TV business, via the Layer3 TV deal, is also poised to ratchet up with the proposed combination with Sprint, he said.

RELATED: T-Mobile Paid $325 Million for Layer3 TV

“Now you have a network, where you can provide...IPTV service not just through [the] home broadband connection…but through a wireless alternative to their home broadband as well,” Carter added.

T-Mobile’s Q4 release also shed a bit more detail on the Layer3 TV acquisition, which closed on January 22. As a result of that deal, T-Mobile included an adjustment of 5,000 “branded prepaid customers” to its reported subscriber base as of January 22. Customer activity from Layer3 TV post acquisition was included in T-Mobile’s net customer additions for Q1 2018. T-Mobile reported 1.43 million total net adds in Q1, which included 199,000 branded prepaid net adds.

Prior to its acquisition by T-Mobile, Layer3 TV was focused on an in-home, IP-delivered pay TV offering in select markets that include Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington D.C.; Dallas/Ft. Worth; and Longmont, Colo. (in partnership with a municipal provider called NextLight).

Looking ahead, T-Mobile has plans to launch a national OTT TV service later this year. T-Mobile has not announced pricing and packaging for that offering, but it’s expected to compete with traditional MVPDs (cable, telco and satellite) as well as a growing mix of internet-based, virtual MVPDs that today include DirecTV Now, Sling TV, Hulu, YouTube TV, fuboTV and PlayStation Vue. 

If you're an investor that's concerned about what T-Mobile is spending to launch its own OTT TV service following its acquisition of Denver-based Layer3 TV, don’t be.

RELATED: T-Mobile Closes Layer3 TV Acquisition

At least that appears to be the message from Braxton Carter, T-Mobile’s CFO, during a talk Wednesday at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.

T-Mobile acquired Layer3 TV for about $325 million, and the total cash burn for all R&D and investment as it steps toward a product launch later this year is about $150 million, and already embedded in T-Mobile’s guidance, he said.

“To me every dollar counts…but relative to the cash generation of the business we think that there’s going to be a fairly quick pay back on it,” Carter said.

And T-Mobile, he admitted, is being tight-lipped – for competitive reasons -- about exactly what the company has in mind for an OTT TV product that, it believes, will stir things up in pay TV much as T-Mobile did in mobile.

“We think that if there’s an industry that’s ripe for disruption, it’s the cable industry,” he said.

Carter reiterated that part of the plan is to more tightly integrate the smartphone and the TV experience, while acknowledging that some of the new OTT TV players are already doing some of that.

“We’re talking about doing something very differently,” Carter said, noting that the plan is not to head into the market and compete in the way that MSOs such as Charter Communications and Comcast do business.

He said there’s some “interesting synergies” and enhancements that T-Mobile can bring to its core offerings with Layer3 TV.

Given the costs of content, what remains to be seen is whether T-Mobile can create a service that not only attracts customers but also generates a sizable profit – a combo that the current crop of virtual MVPDs are struggling to pull together.

Earlier today, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett issued a report noting that while virtual MVPDs are growing “like weeds,” the OTT TV business remains a “truly lousy” one.

RELATED: Virtual MVPDs Growing ‘Like Weeds’: Analyst

5G Update

Carter also expanded a bit on T-Mobile’s plans for 5G, following up on the company’s announced plans to deploy a mobile 5G network in 30 markets by year-end.

RELATED: T-Mobile Going Big on Mobile 5G

While not completely discounting some of the “noise” about early, pre-standard use cases for fixed wireless, he said T-Mobile’s vision is about a “truly ubiquitous, mobile network that is 5G-capable and enabled…That’s where we think the real power is.”

But he did have some criticism to share about plans by rivals such as Verizon and AT&T to push ahead with pre-standard, fixed wireless products.

“When you go non-standard, you pay for R&D, not much of a base to amortize over and when standards come out, it’s a rip-and-replace,” he said. “It’s extremely inefficient.”

T-Mobile is pushing equipment makers to create dual-band radios that are 5G-cmpatibble that can be upgraded with software once the standards are defined.

A good part of T-Mobile’s 5G rollout is tied to its 600 MHz build, which provides wide coverage, but the company also sees opportunities to couple that with millimeter wave spectrum that is more useful over short ranges in in high-density markets.

“It’s going to be a multi-band situation” with 5G, he said, but added that use of mid-band spectrum for 5G is “really the golden goose.”

T-Mobile’s acquisition of Layer3 TV left some analysts and industry observers scratching their heads about the strategy behind it.

RELATED: Media’s Latest Head-Scratcher

That head-scratching is likely to be continuing today as T-Mobile execs didn’t shed much more detail about its grand plans for the Denver-based MVPD during T-Mobile's Q4 2017 earnings call.

T-Mobile did restate that the plan is generally centered on disruptive OTT TV offerings that will launch later this year.

“This move represents a progression in our video strategy,” John Legere, T-Mobile’s CEO, said, noting that Layer3 TV will help to strengthen and expand on other recent video-facing initiatives such as Binge On and the Netflix On Us promotion.

He did stress that the acquisition of Layer3 TV, a deal valued at about $325 million, is about adding the company’s management and talent, technology and content relationships in a way that “will enable us to bring the Uncarrier philosophy to video.”

RELATED: T-Mobile Paid $325 Million for Layer3 TV

Mike Sievert, T-Mobile’s chief operating officer, said the company isn’t ready to reveal all its plans for Layer3 TV, but acknowledged it will involve establishing a stronger connection between the mobile and TV worlds as traditional MVPDs continue to see their pay TV sub bases erode.

“The eyeballs are moving to phones for a reason, because everything is more engaging in a mobile- and a social-fueled world,” Sievert said. “Young people don't hate 4K panels with HDR video quality. What they hate is what's being served up to them on those panels and how antiquated it is and how non-engaging it is compared to the highly targeted social- and mobile-fueled content that they can get on their phones. We're excited about bringing those worlds together.”

“We continue to believe that content is moving to the internet, and the internet is going mobile, creating multiple opportunities for T-Mobile to continue disrupting the existing landscape,” Legere said.

During the call, T-Mobile was also pressed on why it needs to have its own aggregation service, rather than remaining more of a neutral player.

“I would say that, as of now, we are playing Switzerland,” Legere, said. “We haven’t completely announced what it is we’re going to do [with Layer3 TV].”

He added that T-Mobile likewise hasn’t ruled out anything it will do with video content. 

Pricing and packaging details are still to come, but the company apparently has a name for the service in mind, referring to it as “T-Mobile TV” in this updated investor factbook for Q4 and full-year 2017 (pdf).

Mocking Cable’s Mobile Moves

Though T-Mobile is playing coy with its video strategy, execs had some choice words for the threat posed by Comcast and other cable operators that have entered, or are planning to enter, the mobile service market.

Using its MVNO deal with Verizon, Comcast added 187,000 Xfinity Mobile customers lines in Q4, ending 2017 with more than 380,000 (Xfinity Mobile also generated a $480 million EBIDTA loss in 2017). Charter Communications will also be using an MVNO deal with Verizon to launch a mobile offering later this year.

“It’s very irrelevant, and I assume that Charter will be irrelevant-squared,” Legere said, confident that cable’s moves won’t affect T-Mobile’s subscriber guidance (it expects postpaid net adds of between 2 million and 3 million in 2018). “The furthest thing from my mind is any concern about the impact of cable.”

He said T-Mobile also has no fear of cable’s “inside-out-strategy” with mobile and wireless – namely focusing on wireless in homes and offices and eventually expanding that access outdoors.

“It sounds like being sheltered inside your house with a WiFi connection, looking out at the gigantic United States and saying, 'Hey, we're going to go cover that next,’” Legere said. “I’d rather be outside looking in.”

Legere is also amused by Charter’s use of “6G” as a tongue-in-cheek label for its plans to integrate small cell architectures using unlicensed and licensed spectrum with its DOCSIS 3.1 rollout

“6G was the best thing I’ve ever heard,” he said. “The only thing I’m shocked at is that Sprint didn’t announce 7G.”

On M&A: ‘Nothing’s Off the Table’

Legere also would not rule out anything when it comes to M&A activity that could reshape the U.S. mobile industry.

RELATED: Sprint, T-Mobile Scrap Merger Talks

“Nothing’s off the table,” Legere said, noting that the extension on the proposed AT&T-Time Warner deal “put everything on hold for a while.”

“My belief is there’s a huge, pent-up bubble of larger…things that need to happen for customers to be served,” he added.

He touched on several potential scenarios, suggesting that the pace at which things are moving are accelerating behind the scenes.

“Is there a possibility in the future that T-Mobile could do something with Dish, or Sprint or US Cellular? Yes,” he said. “Is there a possibility that a Comcast or Charter could do something with us or around us? Yes. Will I believe that some of that will happen? I believe all of that will happen."  

T-Mobile paid about $325 million to acquire Layer3 TV, the Denver-based MVPD, according to a 10-Q document filed as T-Mobile released Q4 2017 financial results.

T-Mobile noted that the final value of the deal remains subject to customary working capital and other post-closing adjustments. T-Mobile added that its Q1 2018 results will include the results of Layer3 TV, which is now a wholly owned consolidated subsidiary of T-Mobile. 

T-Mobile announced its acquisition of Layer3 TV in mid-December and closed the deal on Jan. 23, 2018.

RELATED: T-Mobile Closes Layer3 TV Acquisition

T-Mobile plans to use the acquisition to underpin the launch of a “disruptive new TV service” later this year that, it promises, won’t be a carbon copy of other skinny bundle OTT TV services that have entered the market.

In addition to competing with traditional pay TV operators, T-Mobile’s coming OTT TV offering will also do battle with a growing group of virtual MVPDs that include DirecTV Now, fuboTV, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo, PlayStation Vue, and Sling TV.

T-Mobile hasn’t detailed pricing and packaging for what coming, but has set up a web site (www.t-mobile.com/tv) that lets prospective customers input contact info to they can be informed when an “exclusive offer” from T-Mobile will become available to them in their respective areas.

RELATED: T-Mobile Promises to Stir Up Pay TV Market (subscription required)

T-Mobile’s pay TV service will also be a true OTT offering, in that consumers will be able to access the service through any internet connection.

Founded in 2013, Layer3 TV had raised about $100 million prior to the acquisition from investors that included Altice, Evolution Media, Paulson and Company, and North Bridge Venture Partners.

About 200 Layer3 TV employees have joined T-Mobile. T-Mobile’s new TV team is led by Jeff Binder, CEO of Layer3 TV, who is now an EVP at T-Mobile and part of the company’s senior management team.

Prior to the deal, Layer 3 TV has been focused on in-home, full-freight pay TV packages using advanced interfaces working on gateways and set-top boxes that are all capable of supporting 4K video and integrating select OTT apps/services, including CuriosityStream, Pandora, Xumo, YouTube and iHeartRadio.  

RELATED: Layer3 TV: A Different Kind of Animal

Layer3 TV currently uses its IP infrastructure to deliver TV service in Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington D.C.; Dallas/Ft. Worth; and Longmont, Colo. (in partnership with a municipal provider called NextLight), and had previously announced plans to introduce service in New York. Layer3 TV has not disclosed subscriber numbers. 

As T-Mobile develops the new TV service, the existing Layer3 TV provide will be available to demo or purchase in select T-Mobile stores in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

Multiscreen video tech company SeaChange International said it is monetizing its investment in Layer3 TV, the MVPD recently acquired by T-Mobile, to the tune of about $6.7 million.

RELATED: T-Mobile Closes Layer3 TV Acquisition

SeaChange, an investor in Denver-based Layer3 TV and announced as one of the tech partners for Layer3 TV’s in-home platform, said it has received an initial payment of about $4.6 million, with another payment of $2.1 million being held in escrow.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Taps SeaChange For In-Home Platform

SeaChange announced the return on its investment almost a week after T-Mobile closed its acquisition of Layer3 TV. With Layer3 TV’s technology and talent in hand, T-Mobile is now setting to work on a “disruptive” OTT TV service that’s expected to debut later this year.

RELATED: T-Mobile Promises To Stir Up Pay TV Market (subscription required)

“We are very pleased that we have realized a significant return on our investment in Layer3 TV.  The proceeds from this investment will further strengthen our cash position and balance sheet and provide additional support for our efforts to continue to improve SeaChange’s financial performance,” Ed Terino, SeaChange CEO, said in a statement.

Founded in 2013, Layer3 TV raised about $100 million prior to being acquired. Other Layer3 TV investors include Altice USA (inherited from its acquisition of Suddenlink Communications), Paulson Co., Evolution Media Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners.

T-Mobile has not yet disclosed what it paid for Layer3 TV. 

With the acquisition of Layer3 TV now complete, T-Mobile is preparing to do for pay TV what it’s been doing in wireless — shake things up.

How, precisely, T-Mobile will pull that off is the big question as it prepares to launch an over-the-top TV service later this year that will grapple with satellite, cable and telco TV providers as well as a growing array of virtual multichannel video programming distributors.

Related: Layer3 TV's Road to T-Mobile

T-Mobile did drop a few vague hints about what’s in store. For starters, T-Mobile won’t require its pay TV service subscribers to bundle in its mobile services, though it’s possible the company will offer incentives to consumers who do buy its video and mobile services together, and offer options that aren’t saddled with mobile data caps.

Really Going Over the Top
T-Mobile’s pay TV service will also be a true over-the-top offering, in that consumers will be able to access the service through any internet connection, and be able to buy it even in rural areas not covered by T-Mobile’s celluar network.

“We’re not going to give the world another metoo, copycat skinny bundle loaded with trade-offs,” Mike Sievert, T-Mobile’s chief operating officer, promised on a conference call soon after the deal was announced late last year.

An FAQ, posted soon after T-Mobile closed the Layer3 TV deal on Jan. 23, stressed that “[w]e don’t believe in carrier bundles where you’re forced to pay more for things you don’t want.” Interested consumers were also given the chance to register their contact information to receive an “exclusive offer” from T-Mobile.

T-Mobile has offered very little concrete information on how it will price and package the new video service and how it will separate from the pack of other OTT video services such as Sling TV, fuboTV, Philo, PlayStation Vue, YouTube TV, DirecTV Now and Hulu.

In addition to getting Layer3 TV’s technology and talent, T-Mobile is buying its distribution deals with networks and programmers. The question going forward is, how will it be able to create interesting or innovative national or local pay TV packages that adhere to the rights that Layer3 TV has been able to carve out.

Whatever T-Mobile comes up with, its packaging and pricing options will likely expand on and divert from Layer3 TV’s initial approach in cities where service is currently available: Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; and Longmont, Colo.

Layer3 TV has focused on an in-home, managed IPTV service featuring a cloud-based interface that drives a big bundle of pay TV programming, plus integrations with OTT offerings such as CuriosityStream, Pandora, Xumo, YouTube and iHeartRadio.

In Dallas, for example, the flagship Platinum allHD tier features more than 275 channels and a VOD library of 25,000-plus titles and starts at $75 per month.

As a differentiator, all of Layer3 TV’s set-top boxes (designed by a subsidiary of BMW Group called Designworks) are 4K-ready.

Layer3 TV has not announced subscriber numbers, but has tried some different marketing and deployment strategies. In addition to offering products directly to consumers, it has teamed with a municipal provider (NextLight in Longmont, Colo.) and offered a broadband bundle (using Verizon’s fiber network in Washington, D.C.).

Flanker Brand an Early Strategy
In its earlier days, Layer3 TV also kicked the tires on a flanker brand strategy, teaming with Suddenlink (now part of Altice USA) in Midland and Kingwood, Texas, to offer a service under the “Umio” name.

T-Mobile’s new TV team will be led by former Layer3 TV CEO Jeff Binder, now an executive VP at T-Mobile and part of the senior management team. Binder reports to Sievert.

T-Mobile said nearly 200 Layer3 TV employees have joined the company.

T-Mobile U.S. said Tuesday (January 23) it has closed its acquisition of Layer3 TV, the Denver-based MVPD that has already launched pay TV services in a handful of U.S. markets.

RELATED: T-Mobile Inks Deal to Acquire Layer3 TV

T-Mobile said it is now moving ahead with a play to launch a “disruptive new TV service” later this year. T-Mobile hasn’t detailed pricing and packaging for what coming, but did set up a web site at www.t-mobile.com/tv, where prospective customers can input contact info and be alerted when an “exclusive offer” from T-Mobile will become available to them in their respective areas.

When the Layer3 TV deal was announced on Dec. 13, 2017, T-Mobile noted that its LTE network will be at the “heart” of its mobile video strategy, but stressed today that its coming service will “work over any internet connection – landline or mobile…”

“We’re not going to give the world another me-too, copycat skinny bundle loaded with tradeoffs,” Mike Sievert, T-Mobile’s COO, promised on a conference call soon after the deal was announced. “They [consumers] don’t want to be stuck with TV on a diet. They want the ability to feast if they want to." 

RELATED: T-Mobile: Our Integrated Mobile/Home Pay TV Play Won’t Be a ‘Me-Too’

“I can’t wait to take the fight to Big Cable and Satellite TV on behalf of consumers everywhere!” T-Mobile president and CEO John Legere said in a statement.

With the deal closed, T-Mobile’s new TV team will be led by Jeff Binder, CEO of Layer3 TV, who is now an EVP at T-Mobile and part of the company’s senior management team. Binder reports to Sievert.

T-Mobile said nearly 200 Layer3 TV employees have joined the company, including execs such as Lindsay Gardner (formerly chief content officer at Layer3 TV), David Fellows (a Layer3 TV co-founder who was also serving as CTO); Amos Smith, a former Time Warner Cable exec who has been serving as Layer 3 TV’s CFO; and Gregg Grigaitis, an exec late of Suddenlink, who has been serving as Layer3 TV’s chief product officer.

Prior to the deal, Layer 3 TV has been focused on in-home, big pay TV packages using advanced interfaces working on gateways and set-top boxes that are all capable of supporting 4K video and integrating select OTT apps/services, including CuriosityStream, Pandora, Xumo, YouTube and iHeartRadio.  

RELATED: Layer3 TV: A Different Kind of  Animal

Layer3 TV currently uses its IP infrastructure to deliver TV service in Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington D.C.; Dallas/Ft. Worth; and Longmont, Colo. (in partnership with a municipal provider called NextLight), and had previously announced plans to introduce service in New York. Layer3 TV has also hinted (via Twitter) at plans to launch service in Philadelphia and San Francisco.

As T-Mobile develops the new TV service, the existing Layer3 TV provide will be available to demo or purchase in select T-Mobile stores in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., “in the coming weeks,” the company said.

T-Mobile has yet to disclose the financial terms of the acquisition, but did file SEC documents outlining the Layer 3 TV stock plan. T-Mobile also reiterated that the Layer3 TV acquisition is not expected to impact previously announced company guidance or expectations.

T-Mobile wants to do to pay-TV what it did to the wireless industry. It is buying Layer3 TV to help. But Layer3’s model is hardly disruptive. So why buy it? The answer is in Layer3’s architecture and the future of the T-Mobile network.

T-Mobile has announced it will acquire Layer3 TV, a four-year-old pay television company.

Layer3 provides service in five markets, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington D.C. In his now-familiar combative style, John Legere, T-Mobile’s CEO, says he plans to use Layer3 TV to do to pay television what he has done to mobile phone services:

“It only makes sense for the Un-carrier to do to TV what we’re doing to wireless: change it for good!”

So, how can Layer3 help T-Mobile be the un-carrier of pay television? On the face of it, Layer3’s technology and content doesn’t seem to fit very well with T-Mobile and Mr. Legere’s goals.

Layer3 business anything but disruptive

Layer3 seeks to be a premium TV service, relying on a better interface and functionality to help sell against traditional pay TV services. Its entry-level tier of service is $89 a month and includes 160 channels. Compared to new market entrants Sling TV and YouTube TV, Layer3 is anything but disruptive.

When Layer3 licensed TV content for its service it did so as a traditional pay-TV provider, not as a disruptor. Those licenses almost certainly come with all the restrictions that other pay-TV operators endure, and at the same license fee rates as standard pay TV.

In other words, Mr. Legere has very little room to maneuver with those content licenses. He can’t offer creative bundles to compete with vMVPDs like Sling and he certainly can’t match them on price.

Can Layer3 technology help T-Mobile?

Mr. Legere thinks that Layer3’s technology is the key asset from the acquisition:

“Together with Layer3’s technology and talent, we will introduce our own disruptive service in 2018.”

Layer3 delivers service over a combination of leased fiber and a customer’s own broadband connection. Using this architecture, Layer3 is not subject to all the congestion and disruption that OTT players like Sling TV and YouTube TV must endure. It is, therefore, able to guarantee pay TV reliability and quality. However, it takes a long time to get that network in place, and that’s why Layer3 is only available in five markets.

Why on earth would T-Mobile want a pay-TV solution based on a managed IP wired network when the company is a nationwide wireless carrier?

5G is the key

T-Mobile is accelerating the rollout of its 5G network based on 600 MHz spectrum that is being cleared for availability this year. According to Neville Ray, T-Mobile’s Chief Technology Officer:

“5G will mean lower-latency (that means faster response-times for your applications), massively increased battery life and an exponential leap in the number of connections we can handle simultaneously – and that unlocks all kinds of amazing new applications.  It’s about more than just speed.”

The company is also augmenting the 600 MHz spectrum with other frequencies it owns in the 200 MHz and 28/39 MHz bands. The combination of all this bandwidth will, Mr. Ray says, give T-Mobile both “breadth and depth nationwide.”

The company is targeting rural areas because that’s where more than 1.2 million square miles will be cleared first. Much of it will be available by the end of this year.

So, the picture for T-Mobile’s 5G network is this. Cell towers providing connections to the home with wired broadband speeds. A fiber backhaul network from the towers to the rest of T-Mobile’s backbone network. Sound familiar? It’s pretty much the same network architecture Layer3 TV uses to deliver its service.

Layer3 allows T-Mobile to offer a triple-play bundle

Rural America is also a great place for T-Mobile to start offering something more akin to a traditional television service. Rural areas typically only have one option for broadband, and one or two for pay TV and voice services. T-Mobile will be able to offer voice, video and data services at very competitive rates because it doesn’t have to run cables to all the homes it wishes to reach.

Expect the company to start rolling out a nationwide triple-play bundle based on 5G and Layer3 TV starting next year.

Why it matters

-The purchase of Layer3 TV by T-Mobile might not look like a very good fit.

-Layer3 doesn’t have a disruptive TV model and is dependent on a wired network for delivery.

-However, T-Mobile’s 5G network should be a great fit with Layer3 and will allow the wireless carrier to offer a very competitive triple-play bundle rolling out nationwide.

-Colin Dixon is the  founder and chief analyst of nScreenMedia. This item, originally run here, was reposted with permission.

Influential media analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson weighed in on the latest mega-media merger – T-Mobile’s purchase of upstart video service aggregator Layer3 TV – adding in a note to clients Wednesday that the logic behind the transaction is a little hard to follow.

T-Mobile, the third largest wireless service provider in the country, agreed to purchase Layer3 TV on Wednesday, adding that the deal would help create a disruptive new TV service in 2018. But details were scarce. Layer3 TV, although a relative newcomer to the pay TV scene, is a definite outlier – it has focused on offering more video not less, or what Moffett said was a “fat” bundle rather than the “skinny” bundle touted by practically every other upstart service.

While the cable industry was virtually founded on bringing consumers more, over the past several years consumers have pushed back against having to pay for channels they never watch. Layer 3 was founded on the opposite concept – that its customers want as much video they can get and are willing to pay for it.

But Moffett has always wondered how the Layer 3 model worked. And the purchase by T-Mobile just adds to his puzzlement.

Not every analyst agreed. In a note to clients Wednesday, Barclays media analyst Kannan Venkateshwar said the deal was a validation of the cable-wireless bundle, noting other video-wireless pairings from AT&T and DirecTV Now, T-Mobile and Netflix, and Sprint and Hulu.

“In an environment where fixed broadband is seeing prices going up, wireless companies have gravitated towards unlimited data bundles with video which, in our opinion, has been a meaningful drag on cable video subs,” Venkateshwar wrote. “What will be interesting to see in this respect is how T-Mobile bundles Layer3.”

The analyst added that he believes the competitive environment will increasingly be influenced by aggregation engines, not just for video but for the reams of data that provide the ability to map usage information with user buying habits, social media and the like to deliver customized programming and advertising.  

“Overall, we believe T-Mobile’s wireless scale and execution combined with Layer3’s capabilities and content deals makes this deal quite significant in terms of future implications for the cable industry, even though the economic scale of the deal is likely small,” Venkateshwar wrote.

Layer3 TV burst on the scene in 2014, offering a full video package to consumers in select cities, riding mainly on broadband services from other providers. It was packed with cable veterans, led by Broadbus Technologies founder Jeff Binder as CEO and CTO David Fellows, who served in the same role at Comcast and AT&T Broadband for years. Former Fox programming veteran Lindsay Gardner joined as chair of its content advisory board later that year and became chief content officer in 2015. Layer3TV provided what it called “Concierge Cable,” a full-freight cable package with all the bells and whistles, offering about 200 channels starting at $75 per month.

According to Moffett, Layer3 TV content is delivered over an all-IP network over the customer’s own broadband connection, but which rides on a “proprietary network of leased fiber rights of use between operators’ connection points.” That architecture allows Layer3 TV to essentially bypass the public internet, creating an enhanced video experience that no other MVPD can provide. Layer3 TV has called itself “the antidote to bad cable,” focusing on customers who wanted the full bundle and were willing to pay between $75 and $100 per month for it.  

But the question was always how much Layer3 TV was paying for its programming. Traditionally, new players in the content game pay top prices for programming, and there was no reason to believe Layer3 TV was any different.

In a note to clients, Moffett conceded that Layer3 TV brings strong management expertise to the table, “but it isn’t clear that their programming costs are any lower than anyone else’s (Binder conceded as much to us last month).  And it isn’t clear that T-Mobile couldn’t have negotiated their own programming agreements if that’s what they had wanted.”

Moffett wondered if the motivation was tomorrow’s expected elimination of Net Neutrality rules, but he doubted it. Advanced advertising capability could be another reason, but the analyst was skeptical of that too. He also doubted the impact the combined company will have on incumbents.

“Did anyone really need one more vMVPD to launch before they concluded that there would be cord-cutting and video margin compression in the future?” he asked. “ Would anyone (anyone) change their forecasts for the decline rate of legacy Pay TV because T-Mobile has joined the ranks of Google’s YouTube TV, Sony’s Vue, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix, DirecTV Now, PhiloTV, Dish Network’s Sling TV, Pluto TV, HBO Go, CBS All Access, FuboTV, and (soon) Disney’s direct-to-consumer whatever-it-is?”

Like other analysts, Moffett agreed that linear pay TV is in decline and T-Mobile was probably always going to be a factor in helping that decline along. He just believes that adding Layer3 TV to the fold won’t change that.

T-Mobile isn’t announcing pricing and packaging for a pay TV service that will debut sometime next year following its proposed acquisition of Layer3 TV, but execs did drop a few hints about what’s in store… and what isn’t.

RELATED: T-Mobile Inks Deal to Acquire Layer3 TV

“We’re not going to give the world another me-too, copycat skinny bundle loaded with tradeoffs,” Mike Sievert, T-Mobile’s COO, said on today’s conference call, soon after the deal was announced. “They [consumers] don’t want to be stuck with TV on a diet. They want the ability to feast if they want to." 

He said those coming packages will also be complemented by integrated access to OTT services and new ways to discover content that come from the social media and mobile worlds.

How T-Mobile moves forward next year will certainly skew differently and present options that aren’t completely centered on Layer3 TV’s current strategy, which has been focused on a concierge-style offering with large pay TV packages (with some OTT integrations) teeming with HD (its lineup today has 250-plus HD channels), access to a growing mix of live and VOD 4K content, and a service that runs on its own set-top boxes and relies on professional installs and a fleet of energy-efficient vehicles made by BMW and a few from Tesla that are being used in markets such as Longmont, Colo. 

RELATED: Layer3 TV Goes For The Big Bundle

And Layer3 TV’s packages, which include local broadcast channels and a heavy dose of national cable channels, have been deployed on a market-by-market basis rather than on a nationwide basis, and is not being delivered into homes via a pure OTT distribution model that so-called "virtual" MVPDs such as YouTube TV and SlingTV use today, but rather by a more managed approach on how video is prepared and delivered, at least up until the broadband ISP's last mile access network. 

RELATED: Layer3 TV: A Different Kind of Animal 

After the deal, T-Mobile will continue to support that legacy Layer3 TV product and deliver other packages and services that it can also offer nationally.

“We’ll continue to support the current model,” said Jeff Binder, Layer3 TV’s CEO, who will join T-Mobile’s leadership team and head up its integrated efforts in the TV and entertainment areas after the deal is closed. Binder added that all of Layer3 TV’s employees (there are about 200 of them) will be joining T-Mobile and that Layer3 TV’s Denver office will be maintained.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Opens its Denver Headquarters

“We’ll grow that across the country and we’ll add a variety of products that solve these pain points,” Binder said.

T-Mobile is expected to create national, contract-free packages that lean on Layer3 TV distribution rights deals that allow for that, and to extend service to a wide range of mobile and TV-connected devices, including Roku players, Apple TV boxes and smart TV platforms. 

“This is about an integrated home and mobile experience,” Sievert said. “We don’t intend to just be the end provider of mobile-only service, though we think mobile is a huge part of this.”

“The offer we will be deploying nationwide from a wireless standpoint is not part of what they  [Layer3 TV] do, but it's already contemplated and constructed,” John Legere, T-Mobile’s CEO, explained. “In the meantime, they've got a great, growing business that we'll continue to push forward." 

“We’re not going to force customers to go on a diet with a skinny bundle,” Binder said. “We're not going to force customers to take every channel in the universe. We'll find a mix that solves the pain points and build those out to make really terrific products that are going to make our competition sweat, and sweat hard." 

Update: Color AT&T, which operates DirecTV Now, an OTT TV service launched last November that now has more than 1 million subs, unimpressed with whatever TV services T-Mobile intends to muster. “Un-original – yet further validation that the industry is dynamic and extremely competitive everywhere you turn,” an AT&T spokesperson said in a statement about the T-Mobile/Layer3 TV deal. 

T-Mobile stressed that it will be pushing forward in the pay TV area ahead of its 5G upgrade/transition, and lean on its retail presence (roughly 16,000 stores nationwide) and its access to millions of mobile handsets that run its service.

“The last mile isn’t our issue because we are a nationwide, leading broadband provider even today,” Sievert said, noting that T-Mobile’s network currently delivers an average of 30 Mbps. The company will also take advantage of Layer3 TV’s use of HEVC encoding to keep bit loads down, even for HD and 4K content.  

With 5G on the horizon, “the traditional barriers between mobile internet and home internet are falling away,” Sievert added.

He also expects T-Mobile to generate a decent return on its new pay TV service in part using targeted advertising and by taking advantage of efficient acquisition costs and other synergies.  

As for the origins of the deal, Legere said T-Mobile and Layer3 TV were brought together by an investor in both companies. 

Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but the agreement “is definitely not a material part of our liquidity profile,” J. Braxton Carter, T-Mobile’s EVP and CFO, said. “This is…going to be another example of something that’s going to be highly disruptive, accretive to our business.”

Layer3 TV hasn't released subscriber numbers, but Carter noted that the Denver-based provider is being acquired during its "pre-revenue" phase. 

T-Mobile has signed a deal to acquire Layer3 TV, the Denver-based multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) that has launched pay TV services to a handful of markets.

Financial terms were not announced, but the agreement will enable T-Mobile to enter the pay TV arena and take on incumbent cable, satellite and telco TV providers as well as a slew of new “virtual” MVPDs such as DirecTV Now, YouTube TV, Sling TV, fuboTV, Philo, and PlayStation Vue. T-Mobile said the deal, expected to close in the “coming weeks,” is not expected to impact company financial guidance or expectations.

With Layer3 TV in-hand, T-Mobile said it intends to “launch a disruptive new TV service in 2018,” adding that its LTE network will be at the “heart” of T-Mobile’s mobile video strategy. More specific details on pricing and packaging were not announced, though T-Mobile said the coming TV service will take advantage of its national retail presence, brand, and its sales and customer care organizations. 

For its part, Layer3 TV has centered on an IP-delivered, full-freight home pay TV service that has integrated a batch of OTT offerings and enabled 4K video capability on every set-top it deploys. Among other strategies, Layer3 TV has offering a pay TV/broadband bundle in Washington, D.C., under a resale agreement with Verizon Communications

RELATED: Layer3 TV Ties CuriosityStream to its Set-Tops

Layer3 TV has not announced subscriber numbers, but the service is currently available in Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington D.C.; Dallas/Ft. Worth; and Longmont, Colo., and has announced plans to extend service to New York. In Longmont, Layer3 TV is teamed up with NextLight, a Colorado-based municipal provider, via a marketing/technology relationship. 

UPDATE: Layer3 TV tweeted today that it also has plans to bring its service to San Francisco and Philadelphia.

Founded in 2013, Layer3 TV has raised about $100 million. Investors include Altice (which just struck an MVNO deal with Sprint), Evolution Media, Paulson and Company, and North Bridge Venture Partners.

T-Mobile will be introducing its twist on pay TV amid a small but growing cord-cutting trend that has been eroding the subscriber bases of incumbent pay TV providers.

RELATED: Decline of Traditional Pay TV Accelerates in Q3 

And, in making that announcement, T-Mobile CEO John Legere served up some sharp-tongued criticism of those providers.

“People love their TV, but they hate their TV providers,” Legere said in a statement. “And worse, they have no real choice but to simply take it – the crappy customer service, clunky technology and outrageous bills loaded with fees! That’s where we come in. We’re gonna fix the pain points and bring real choice to consumers across the country,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. “It only makes sense for the Un-carrier to do to TV what we’re doing to wireless: change it for good! Personally, I can’t wait to start fighting for consumers here!”

“No market needs Un-carrier-ing more than pay TV, so we’re completely stoked to join T-Mobile in disrupting the status quo!” added Jeff Binder, CEO of Layer3 TV. “Together with T-Mobile, we’re going to ditch everything you hate about cable and make everything you love about TV better.”

The sale represents another M&A exit for a company started up by Binder. A VOD technology pioneer he founded, Broadbus Technologies, was sold to Motorola in 2006 for about $186 million.

T-Mobile also posted a video from Legere about the proposed acquisition: 

:

Layer3 TV has expanded its slate of integrated OTT content at the set-top level following an integration agreement with CuriosityStream, the fact-based SVOD service from Discovery Communications founder John Hendricks.

Layer3 TV’s app integration of CuriosityStream covers all pricing tiers of the SVOD service – Basic (Standard-definition only, for $2.99 per month), Standard (HD, for $5.99 per month), and Premium (includes service’s 4K and UltraHD fare, for $11.99 per month). Financial terms were not announced, but deals such as these are typically forged under a revenue-sharing model.

Every Layer3 TV set-top box is capable of delivering 4K video, and 4K support for CuriosityStream on those devices will be supported in the “coming weeks.”

“Our subscribers have demonstrated a voracious appetite for compelling documentaries and are seeking more 4K programs,” Layer3 TV CEO Jeff Binder, said in a statement. “Our addition of CuriosityStream – especially with its illuminating original 4K content – satisfies both of these subscriber demands.”

RELATED: Curious Behavior

Launched in March 2015, CuriosityStream presently offers more than 1,500 titles, including David Attenborough’s Light On Earth, Deep Time History, and Emmy-winning Stephen Hawking’s Favorite Places.

The integration of CuriosityStream expands the amount of OTT content and services supported by Layer3 TV set-top box platform. Other examples include Xumo, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Facebook and YouTube.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Expands OTT Slate With Xumo

The Layer3 TV agreement also extends CuriosityStream’s distribution strategy and gives it another avenue to obtain subscribers. Layer3 TV has not announced subscriber numbers, but the service is currently available in Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington D.C.; Dallas/Ft. Worth; and Longmont, Colo., with New York on deck.

In addition to offering its service on a direct-to-consumer basis, CuriosityStream is also distributed through Amazon Channels and VRV. Comcast also offers access to CuriosityStream on its set-top VOD system.

RELATED: Comcast Adds CuriosityStream to SVOD Lineup

CuriosityStream has deals done with about 15 different distributors, though not all have been announced, Clint Stinchcomb, CuriosityStream’s chief distribution officer, said in a recent interview for an upcoming SVOD-focused story that will be featured in an upcoming issue of Multichannel News.

“We want to make it as easy as possible” to get CuriosityStream, Stinchcomb said. “I’m in the friction-minimization business.”

Layer3 TV has added Crown Media’s newest network, Hallmark Drama, to Platinum allHD, the Denver-based MVPD’s base package.

RELATED: Hallmark Drama Channel Launches Into Headwinds for Linear Networks

Hallmark Drama, launched October 1, features a library of titles such as Touched by an Angel, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, and originals that included Signed, Sealed, Delivered, A Kiss at Midnight and When Duty Calls.

Layer3 TV also offers Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

Notably, Hallmark Drama does not feature any programming currently available on Hallmark or Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, drawing instead on Crown Media’s library of original movies and series, including decades of “Hallmark Hall of Fame” films, Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott told Multichannel News in a recent interview.

Layer3 TV currently offers service in Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Dallas/Ft. Worth; and Longmont, Colo., and has plans to extend service to New York.

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based MVPD, is the first pay TV provider to carry The Smithsonian Channel’s 4K VOD library.  Layer3 TV added the programmer’s HD linear channel in October.

The Smithsonian Channel’s 4K offering includes 10 hours of content that is refreshed each quarter. Example of titles offered in 4K from The Smithsonian Channel include Mysteries of the Rainforest, Aerial America, Sacred Sites and David Attenborough’s Conquest of the Skies.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Lets HSN Viewers Shop by Remote

Layer3 TV also has 4K distribution with Insight TV and NASA TV, and has offered several live TV events in the format, including Fox Sports’ 4K college football coverage, and the Bellator NYC mixed martial arts fight night in June.

Layer3 TV supports 4K on all its set-top boxes, though customers will also need a 4K-capable TV to take advantage of content delivered in that format. Layer3 TV said more than half of its subs depend on the provider for 4K content.

Denver-based Layer3 TV has launched in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., Dallas/Ft. Worth, and Longmont, Colo. A launch in New York is in the works. 

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based MVPD, has launched Shop by Remote, an interactive TV app from HSN.

They said the new capability lets Layer3 TV customers browse for and buy HSN products with the remote control. Those customers can choose size, color and quantity from more than 40,000 items that’s available on the app.

Layer3 TV customers can pay by remote using the credit card they have on file with their HSN account. Layer3 TV has more detail about that app posted here. 

Per HSN’s web site, several other MVPDs and co-ops support HSN’s Shop by Remote app, including AT&T/U-verse, Blue Ridge Communications, Comcast, Optimum (Altice USA), Hawaiian Telecom, Verizon, and the Palmetto Rural Telephone Cooperative, among others.

Layer3 TV said the Shop by Remote app joins other apps that have been integrated on its set-top box platform, including Xumo, iHeartRadio, Pandora and YouTube.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Expands OTT Slate With Xumo

Layer3 TV is available in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., Dallas/Ft. Worth, and Denver (Longmont), and has plans to launch in New York. It has not announced subscriber numbers. 

Insight TV, a channel focused on sports, entertainment and lifestyle programming, said it has landed a 4K distribution deal with Layer3 TV, the Denver-based MVPD.

Insight TV billed this as its first 4K UHD distribution deal in the U.S. Insight TV is also part of a lineup of channels that SES is delivering for its 4K trails with several cable operators, telcos and IPTV service providers. Insight TV shows include sports reality series such as Running The World, adventure gameshow No Time To Lose, and sci-tech series Extraordinary Humans.

RELATED: Verizon Teams with SES on Ultra HD Trial

Layer3 TV, which uses only 4K-capable boxes, is offering Insight TV on channel 115 in a list of launch markets that includes Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Dallas; and Denver (Longmont), with New York among those that are next in line.

RELATED: New York Next on Layer3 TV’s Launch List

Layer3 TV also carries a 4K version of NASA TV, and has offered several events in the format, including Fox Sports’ 4K college football coverage, and the Bellator NYC mixed martial arts fight night in June. Layer3 TV estimates that more than half its subs have watched live or VOD content in 4K.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Cites Strong Demand for 4K Fare

Layer3 TV is expanding the OTT-delivered portion of its lineup by 100-plus digital channels after notching a deal with Xumo, an ad-based offering that is also delivered on a variety of mobile devices, TV-connected devices, and smart TV platforms.

RELATED: Xumo Nets National Lacrosse League Deal

The deal, which makes Layer3 TV the first MVPD to integrate Xumo on the set-top box, opens up access to digital channels such as Funny or Die, Cheddar, Tastemade, FailArmy, the recently rebranded PeopleTV,  and Mashable. The deal with Xumo also comes soon after execs from Layer3 TV and Cheddar mentioned a carriage agreement was done.

RELATED: Layer3 TV to Add Cheddar to Lineup

Layer3 TV is bundling the curated Xumo offering with its baseline Platinum subscription.  

Layer3 TV and Xumo did not announce financial terms and whether, for example, this opens up ad inventory for Layer3 TV to sell on its platform or if they have forged another type of ad revenue-sharing arrangement.

Xumo’s lineup broadens the mix of OTT content available through Layer3 TV, which also integrates access to services such as Pandora, iHeartRadio, Facebook and YouTube.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Plays Pandora

Layer3 TV has launched service in Los Angeles; Chicago; Longmont, Colo.; Washington, D.C.; and Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, with plans underway to debut in New York.

RELATED: New York Next on Layer3 TV’s Launch List

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Lindsay Gardner has been around the block long enough to know what’s what in the programming business.

A veteran of both sides of the negotiating table, Gardner has probably forgotten more about the business than most will ever learn. He was at Fox Networks Group for eight years through 2007, eventually rising to president, affiliate sales and marketing, and spent six years at Cox Communications, including time as executive director, programming. He also served as executive director, planning and new business, at In Demand, the MSO-backed provider of pay-per-view and video-on-demand services.

Now as chief content officer for Layer3 TV, a startup that piggybacks a video service onto incumbent broadband networks, offering a full-freight video service and top-notch customer service it calls “concierge cable,” Gardner is entering a new chapter in a long and illustrious career. But even though the jobs and roles have changed over the years, Gardner has learned a very important lesson about the programming business: You don’t get what you don’t ask for, and you don’t get anything if you don’t ask nicely.

“[It’s] walking into [A+E Networks president of distribution] David Zagin’s office with my palms up and saying, ‘We love A+E, we love Lifetime, we love Viceland, would you work with us?’” Gardner said. “A lot of it is just asking, and everybody comes through.”

For Layer3 TV, that approach is forging unique partnerships with programmers. Gardner said he receives an unprecedented level of support from content providers, ranging from appearances by Nickelodeon characters at launches to billboards touting programming.

“ESPN has turned over its whole website homepage in our markets, promoting us,” Gardner added. “Pac-12 Networks takes out billboards screaming that we’re the exclusive place to find the USCUCLA baseball game in HD. Right down the line, partly because we’re new — and they love that we carry all of their channels in HD, that we have the best picture quality, that our guide seems to have licked and solved the problem of there’s 500 channels and nothing on — and partly because we’ve asked nicely.”

Layer3 TV currently is available in five markets — Chicago; Los Angeles; Washington; Dallas, Texas; and Longmont, Colo. — and is readying a sixth launch in New York. The service offers about 250 channels, including several in 4K with more to come.

The product is unique in that, in a climate where every new entrant is touting lower costs and skinnier packages, Layer3 TV is offering more. Gardner said that’s just what its customers want.

“They love cable,” Gardner said of Layer3 customers. “They’re looking for something better, and we become their new cable company.”

And that means, in an era when most distributors want to break up the programming bundle, Gardner wants everything — and he means everything — a content provider has to offer.

For example, Layer3 is working with The Weather Channel on new leading-edge apps and 4K content for the channel, which it plans to add shortly. With The Tennis Channel, Layer3 is working on providing a value-added package that will show all seven courts at Roland Garros for next year’s French Open. And in a deal with Fox, Layer3 is airing all of 30 sports events the network is producing in 4K this year.

Other programmers are using Layer3 as a test bed for emerging technologies or offerings. Gardner mentioned tests for mini a la carte packages that would take one specific show or genre and offer content tailored only around that specific theme.

“It’s possible to assemble assets in a way that is tailored for individual passions, and there is value in it, and we’re quietly testing those sorts of initiatives,” Gardner said.

Layer3 TV said it has added Newsy to its linear lineup.

Newsy Live, a news channel tailored for millennial audiences, is appearing on Layer3 TV channel 147, and includes Newsy’s new live, two-hour nightly show, The Why.

RELATED: Newsy Preps to Launch Live Newscast on Linear Channel

Layer3 TV is available in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Dallas/Fort Worth and Longmont, Colo., and has New York City on deck.

Newsy, acquired by The E.W. Scripps Company in 2013, has been complementing its OTT offering with linear-style carriage with MVPDs such as Cincinnati Bell, as well as distribution on virtual MVPDs such as Sling TV, Pluto TV and a new TV streaming service from CenturyLink. 

“Launching ‘Newsy Live’ on Layer3 TV allows us to introduce a growing number of consumers to the Newsy approach to news programming,” said Blake Sabatinelli, general manager for Newsy, in a statement. “As television viewing continues to evolve, Newsy will give Layer3 TV a news network created by millennials, for millennials.”

“Newsy’s fresh take on news coverage offers something our subscribers will quickly embrace,” said David Rapson, senior director of content partnerships for Layer3 TV. “From news to entertainment, Layer3 TV is constantly seeking to deliver the best content that resonates with our highly engaged audience.”

There’s still not a lot of 4K content available these days, but evidence is mounting that consumers who have TVs and boxes that are capable of supporting the new format are craving it.

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based next-gen cable op that supports 4K on all its set-tops, said that 20% of its customers have watched at least one episode of BBC America’s Planet Earth II in 4K via its VOD platform.

Granted, we don’t know a lot about the sample size, since Layer3 TV doesn’t say how many subs it has and it’s unclear what percentage of that base has a 4K-capble TV, but it’s still a nice, round number that speaks to the desire for content that’s delivered in the pixel-packed format.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Adds Live, On Demand 4K Fare

And it also echoes what was mentioned by the company in April at NAB. At the time, company CTO and co-founder David Fellows noted that the NASA TV UHD channel was in the “mid-20s” among the most popular linear channels offered by Layer3 TV, and that the 4K version of Planet Earth II from BBC America was the MVPD’s second most-popular VOD asset, behind only NBC’s This Is Us. So, t’s been locked into the upper echelon of a VOD library that today exceeds 22,000 “assets,” according to the company.

"The impact that 4K content is having on BBC AMERICA’s awareness and Layer3 TV viewership serves as notice of 4K’s importance,” Layer3 TV chief content officer Lindsay Gardner, said in a statement.  “And, not only is BBC AMERICA enjoying higher viewership on Layer3 TV, but so are sister networks AMC, IFC, and SundanceTV.”  

For the purpose of this study, Layer3 TV said it defined each network’s rank by the total number of subscribers tuning into each network for at least one minute, regardless of market, during the two month viewing period following the addition of Planet Earth II. 

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based next-gen cable operator, said it has integrated Pandora’s music streaming service on all its set-top boxes.

Layer3 TV said its integration of Pandora supports features such as creating stations, thumbing and skipping tracks and discovering new artists.

All the features listeners have come to love and expect from the world’s leading music streaming service can now be found on the Layer3 TV Set-Top Box including creating stations, thumbing and skipping tracks, and discovering new artists. Dish Network and Comcast (for X1) are among other MVPDs that provide access to Pandora on set-top boxes. 

The latest set-top tie-in follows Layer3 TV’s recent integration of iHeartRadio. Layer3 TV has also integrated Facebook and YouTube on its set-tops and is expected to add more apps to the mix.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Tunes in iHeartRadio

“Layer3 TV set out to have the television be at the center of the living room,” Lindsay Gardner, Layer3 TV’s chief content officer, said in a statement. “Now our customers, who have enjoyed the highest quality television experience, can seamlessly enjoy the finest selection of music with Pandora’s elegant interface and personalized listening experience. We know this feature will delight our Layer3 TV customer base and is another example of a next-generation feature we pride ourselves on as a company.”

Layer3 TV currently offers service in Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington D.C.; Dallas/Ft. Worth; and Longmont, Colo., with access to the greater Denver area on deck.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Reselling Broadband Using Verizon’s Network in Washington, D.C., Area

Company CEO Jeff Binder recently confirmed on a discussion streamed on Facebook Live that Layer3 TV is preparing to launch service in New York City.

RELATED: New York Next on Layer3 TV’s Launch List

In its latest effort to blend pay TV with OTT, Layer3 TV said it has integrated the iHeartRadio digital music, podcasting and live streaming radio service on all its set-top boxes.

iHeartRadio is the first live streaming radio app offered on Layer3 TV’s platform, which has already integrated Facebook and YouTube, with more apps to come.

The iHeartRadio app, accessible via the Layer3 TV user interface, lets subs search for and playback radio stations based on genre, location or keyword, pick from thousands of live radio stations, including certain local stations, create custom artist radio stations, and receive personal recommendations based on listening habits, location and musical preference.

Layer3 TV has launched service in Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Longmont, Colo., and has confirmed plans to enter the New York market.

RELATED: New York Next on Layer3 TV’s Launch List

“Layer3 TV customers expect us to deliver them the best television experience, but now they can also listen to all their favorite artists, music and local radio personalities thanks to Layer3 TV and iHeartRadio’s innovative integration,” Lindsay Gardner, Layer3 TV’s chief content officer, said in a statement. “On top of over 250 of the top television channels, iHeartRadio brings its seemingly unlimited music offerings into every Layer3 TV customer’s living room.”

“It’s our goal to make sure listeners have access to iHeartRadio everywhere they are, 24/7. This integration is yet another example of giving our listeners access to all their favorite music, radio personalities and stations on the products and services they use most,” added Jessica Jerrick, EVP of business development and partnerships at iHeartMedia.

Other U.S. MVPDs have likewise begun to integrate OTT music services on their pay TV platforms. Among examples, AT&T U-verse also offers iHeartRadio, and Dish Network and Comcast (for X1) have tied in Pandora.

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based next-gen cable operator, said it has added industry vet Jeff Gaspin to its content advisory board.

Jeff Gaspin, the former chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment, is president of Primary Wave Entertainment, a talent/literary management and TV/film production company, where he oversees a portfolio of unscripted and scripted programming. At NBCU, Gaspin was key in developing and launching programs such as The Apprentice, Biggest Loser and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, among others, and helped in the creation of Hulu. He later formed Gaspin Media, a production and consulting firm, joined the advisory board of TowerBrook Capital, and co-founded TAPP TV, a subscription-based online television network.

Gaspin, who has also held seats on the NCTA, A+E Networks and the Paley Center for Media, joins Layer3 TV’s content advisory board amid launches in markets that include Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., Dallas/Ft. Worth, and in Longmont, Colo.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Launches in La La Land

“Jeff has a deep understanding of how to create, grow and deliver entertainment brands as both a longtime network executive, and entrepreneur,” Lindsay Gardner, chief content officer for Layer3 TV, in a statement. “Jeff’s innovative approach to entertainment, which includes some of the most successful series and networks on television, and entrepreneurial success, will be invaluable as we continue to deliver a one-of-a-kind, personalized entertainment experience.”

RELATED: Patty McCaskill Joins Layer3 TV’s Content Advisory Board

“Layer3 TV’s consumer centric approach has allowed it to break through the traditional cable mold and provide the most comprehensive, high quality experience in the industry,” Gaspin added. “I’m honored to join this experienced team and advise them as they continue to innovate and deliver a wide variety of high quality content.”

RELATED: NAB 2017: Layer3 TV’s CTO Says Customer is ‘Center of the Universe’

Layer3 TV announced Tuesday that industry vet Joe Rooney has been named chief marketing officer, and will oversee the  customer acquisition and marketing strategy of the Denver-based next-gen MVPD.

Rooney was formerly the chief marketing officer of Cox Communications and also served as SVP of brand marketing, social media and advertising at the MSO before entering what became a somewhat brief retirement from the cable industry.

Rooney, who was with Cox for nearly 30 years, will be based at Layer3 TV’s Denver headquarters. He comes on board as the Company looks to gain subscriber traction in a handful of markets, including Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Longmont, Colo.; and Washington, D.C.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Debuts in Dallas

“Joe has a long track record of innovating in the cable industry,” Layer3 TV CEO Jeff Binder, said in a statement. “His success with customer acquisition, marketing sciences and brand development is second to none.  Joe’s proven experience in bringing new cable products to market is invaluable to our organization.”

RELATED: Layer3 TV Reselling Broadband Using Verizon’s Network in Washington, D.C., Area

“I moved to Denver to retire and kept hearing about what was being built at Layer3 TV,” Rooney added. “When I met with the talented team I became inspired by the company’s product and leadership. It is a thrill to help reinvent the next generation of the cable television.”

“We have a long of history creating value with Joe during his extraordinary career,” said Samantha Cooper, EVP, content distribution at Viacom Media Networks.  “As Viacom continues to develop closer and more collaborative partnerships with our distributors, we are excited to work hand-in-hand with Joe as he takes on marketing for Layer3 TV.”

RELATED: Layer3 TV Goes For The Big Bundle

Rooney is a Cable TV Pioneer, elected to the 2010 class, was the 2004 recipient of the NCTA Vanguard Award for Marketing, and serves as the event co-chair of Adaptive Spirit (previously known as SkiTAM), the leading fundraising event for the US Paralympic Ski and Snowboard Team. He is also on the advisory board for Stay-Focused, a SCUBA diving and self-discovery mentoring program for mobility challenged teens.

Let’s face it, there are consumers out there that will never, ever take a pay TV service from an incumbent cable operator.

Even the loudest, screaming call to action or best deal won’t get them to budge, because the hate level is simply too great to overcome. Or maybe the local pay TV operator’s brand has simply exhausted itself, and consumers have become blind and deaf to their marketing overtures.

But what if there’s a new pay TV provider in town — a new brand even — that strives to shake off cable’s longstanding stigmas by giving the customer the white-glove treatment, along with a fresh, new service that delivers a full-freight lineup of live TV and a massive VOD library that comes by way of fancy, colorful boxes outfitted with an intuitive, sharp-looking guide that even integrate Netflix and other popular OTT services and apps?

And so what if it’s all riding the incumbent internet-service provider’s broadband pipes? That’s just data. Everything else is new, new, new — down to the electric Teslas and BMWs that the field technicians and service installers use to roll around town.

It’s looking more and more likely that such a scenario could be playing into the strategy of Layer3 TV, the Denver-based IPTV service provider that bills itself as “The New Cable.”

Though Layer3 TV is leaning on a direct-to-consumer play in most of its launched markets, it’s becoming increasingly likely the company will also lean on deals with incumbent MSOs and telcos that could use its TV service as a “flanker brand” that enables them to gain video homes while also adding or retaining valuable, higher-margin broadband subscribers.

Layer3 TV and Suddenlink Communications (now part of Altice USA, which inherited Suddenlink’s investment in Layer3 TV) tested the idea starting in late 2015 in a couple of Texas markets, using the “Umio TV” brand.

Though that trial has since ended, a similar idea appears to be underway in Washington, D.C., where Layer3 TV is using the fiber network of incumbent telco Verizon Communications to market a broadband bundle as well as a standalone broadband service.

Neither side is commenting on the relationship, but people familiar with the linkage said the broadband component of Layer3 TV’s offer in the market (branded by Layer3 TV as “pure-Fiber”) does indeed run on the Verizon’s network. And while Verizon would perform the connection to the exterior of the customer’s house, Layer3 TV would handle everything else, from service activation to billing to customer care.

Financial terms of the agreement aren’t yet known, but it gives Layer3 TV the important ability to sell a broadband service without owning the access network. Verizon, meanwhile, is providing consumers in that market a pay TV option that is not Fios TV. Even if Verizon cedes a pay TV subscriber to Layer3 TV, Verizon still gets a broadband sub out of the deal, and prevents that customer from falling into the hands of Comcast or RCN.

Among other examples, Layer3 TV also has a service/bundling partnership with NextLight, a municipal fiber broadband provider in Longmont, Colo.

Layer3 TV has added another large market to its launch list with a debut this week in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

There, Layer3 TV is pitching a pre-order price of $49 per month that’s good for the first three months, then rising to $89 per month. Customers who opt for a self-install option are in line for an additional $100 credit.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Goes For The Big Bundle

In Dallas, Layer3 TV will be facing off with incumbent, traditional pay TV competitors that include AT&T/DirecTV, Charter Communications, Dish Network, and, to a smaller degree, with Suddenlink Communications (now part of Altice), according to The Dallas Morning News.

RELATED: Layer3 TV’s CTO Says Customer is ‘Center of the Universe’

Consumers there also have access to OTT-based offerings from Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, and DirecTV Now. YouTube TV has not yet launched in the Dallas area.

RELATED: YouTube TV Goes Live in Handful of Markets

Layer3 TV has also launched service in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Longmont, Colo., where it has teamed up with a municipal broadband provider called NextLight.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Reselling Broadband Using Verizon’s Network in Washington, D.C., AreaThe launch in Dallas is a return home of sorts for Denver-based Layer3 TV. In 2016, it partnered with Suddenlink on a test of Umio TV, an early version of Layer3 TV’s product, in Kingwood and Midland. That trial is no longer active.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Trials Next-Gen Cable Service

“Layer3 TV is leading the charge to revolutionize the way people experience television by putting the customer at the center of an expansive content universe,” Jeff Binder, CEO of Layer3 TV, said in a statement. “Our mission is to pioneer the newest technologies and make a TV service that is easy and enjoyable to use.  We first tested our product in Texas and it’s thrilling to come back to the Lone Star State to officially launch the next big thing in TV.”

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based next-gen cable operator, said it has added Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) and MASN2 to its core allHD Platinum package in the Washington, D.C. metro area, including parts of Maryland and Virginia.

The additions will give subs access to the regional sports network’s live coverage of Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals games, as well as pregame and postgame shows for those teams. MASN also televises more than 150 NCAA Division I basketball games and more than 40 NCAA Division I football games, featuring games from major conferences such as the Big East and Big South.

Layer3 TV is also offered in Chicago and in Longmont, Colo. (via a partnership with a municipal provider called NextLight).

RELATED: Layer3 TV Taps BMW Subsidiary for Gateway Design

It officially launched service this week in Los Angeles, including Malibu and Pasadena and Newport Beach, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Launches in La La Land

Layer3 TV has not announced subscriber numbers, but CEO Jeff Binder told the publication that it’s adding thousands of customers per month and that those customers are tending to stay with the no-contract IP-delivered video service.

Patty McCaskill, an industry vet most recently with Suddenlink Communications, has joined the content advisory board of Layer3 TV, the Denver-based next-gen cable operator.

McCaskill was formerly the SVP and chief programming officer at Suddenlink Communications, the MSO acquired by Altice in December 2015. Altice is reportedly one of Layer3 TV’s investors.

RELATED: Altice, Paulson Co. Among Layer3 TV Investors: Report

McCaskill, named to the Multichannel News Wonder Woman class of 2009, also served as VP of programming and pay-per-view for Charter Communications, and is a recipient of the industry’s Vanguard award for Distinguished Leadership and is a member of the Cable TV Pioneers.

McCaskill joins a content advisory board that includes Brian Brady, John Hane, Preston Padden, Michael Regan, Sean Riley, Jeff Sherwin, Dave Shull, and D.A. Wallach.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Appoints D.A. Wallach to Content Advisory Board

Layer3 TV has launched service in parts of in Los Angeles, in Longmont, Colo. (through a partnership with municipal provider NextLight), and in the Washington, D.C., and Chicago metro arears.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Launches in La La Land

“Patty’s expertise in constructing and negotiating video packages is an invaluable resource for Layer3 TV,” Lindsay Gardner, Layer3 TV’s chief content officer, said in a statement. “Our line-ups and consumer-friendly offerings already reflect Patty’s judgment and insights as she has been a friend of the company since our early days working with Suddenlink.”

“I’ve enjoyed working with the world-class team Layer3 TV has assembled,” added McCaskill. “I’m thrilled to bring my knowledge to this next generation cable company as they build ‘win-win’ programming partnerships that also provides a fantastic service to the rapidly expanding user base.”

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based next-gen cable operator, has been putting a fresh, new face on the much-maligned set-top box using a colorful and modular lineup of whole-home gateways.

While the industry has known for a while that Pace plc, the U.K.-based set-top maker now part of Arris, was tapped to make at least the first wave of Layer3 TV boxes, the MVPD revealed Tuesday that Designworks, a subsidiary of BMW Group, designed the whole-home gateway exclusively for Layer3 TV.

The use of modular color schemes, the companies said, is a first for cable in that it provides a way for the devices to "best fit into each room’s aesthetic" of the subscriber. 

This video offers a more detailed look at the different colors supported by the design: 

Layer3 TV’s main Gateway box supports HD, 4K and High Dynamic Range video, integrated WiFi, a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, and whole-home DVR that can store more than 3,000 hours of HD, integrates access to certain OTT apps, and features a Full Color Front panel LCD screen that displays info about what’s being watched. It’s also Zigbee and Bluetooth-ready, the company said.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Goes For The Big Bundle

Layer3 TV and BMW Group have connected elsewhere, as the pay TV provider uses a fleet of electric BMW i3 vehicles for installations and other service visits. Layer3 TV has also been using Tesla vehicles for its partnership with NextLight, a municipal service provider that is building out a city-wide fiber network in Longmont, Colo.

RELATED: Layer3 TV's Fleet Goes Green

“Designworks and the BMW Group have a long history of designing high end and intuitive products that customers love using every day,” Layer3 TV CMO Eric Kuhn, said in a statement. “After conducting an exhaustive global search for a design firm, we were attracted to the firm’s commitment to combine elegant design with tangible improvements to how media is experienced.”

“The user experience is at the heart of what we design for at Designworks, whether we are working on aviation interiors, user interaction concepts or solutions for the smart home” said André de Salis, creative director and project lead for Layer 3 TV at Designworks.

Layer3 TV has launched service in Chicago, Washington, D.C., parts of Los Angeles, and Longmont, Colo.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Launches in La La Land

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based next-gen cable operator, said it has added recording artist and venture capitalist D.A. Wallach to its Content Advisory Board. 

Layer3 TV said the addition of Wallach, also an entrepreneur, will bring music and additional startup knowledge to the company.

Wallach joins a content board that also includes Brian Brady, John Hane, Preston Padden, Michael Regan, Sean Riley, Jeff Sherwin, and Dave Shull.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Bulks Up Content Advisory Board

“If innovation occurs at the crossroads of different fields, we are thrilled to have D.A., and his knowledge of music and startups, have a seat at our table,” Lindsay Gardner, chief content officer for Layer3 TV, said in a statement. “He understands the value of delivering content that resonates with consumers, and his perspective will be critical as we build the ultimate entertainment experience.”

RELATED: Layer3 TV Goes For The Big Bundle

“Sitting in between content and technology in Los Angeles, I have been watching Layer3 TV grow for a few years,” Wallach added. “It’s a privilege to join this amazing team and advise them on music integration into the living room and the future of entertainment.”

Wallach was discovered by Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. As a member of indie pop duo, Chester French, Wallach has released three full-length albums, been featured in GQ, Rolling Stone, Vogue, and served as Spotify’s official Artist in Residence, Layer3 TV said. His solo album, Time Machine, was released in October 2015. In 2016, Wallach made his feature film debut in La La Land.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Launches in La La Land

 Wallach is also a partner in Inevitable Ventures, an investment partnership he co-found with Ron Burkle that supports entrepreneurs in areas such as healthcare and labor. Wallach also advises other startups, including SpaceX, Doctor on Demand, Ripple Labs, and Spotify where he was the official Artist in Residence.

Layer3 TV has launched service in parts of in Los Angeles, in Longmont, Colo. (through a partnership with municipal provider NextLight), and in the Washington, D.C., and Chicago metro arears. Denver is among the launch markets on deck.

Layer3 TV, the next-gen cable operator, said it has added five industry vets to its content advisory board: John Hane, Preston Padden, Michael Regan, Jeff Sherwin and Dave Shull.

They join current board members Sean Riley and Brian Brady, and board chief Lindsay Gardner, Layer3 TV’s chief content officer.

The latest round of appointments follow recent launches by Layer3 TV in Los Angeles and in Longmont, Colo., through a partnership with municipal provider NextLight. Layer3 TV has also launched in the Washington, D.C., and Chicago metro arears. Denver is among the markets on deck.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Launches in La La Land

Hane is a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, where he represents broadcasters, programmers and distributors. He is also late of NBC, New World Communications Group and Lockheed Martin.

Padden's career has included serving as president, network distribution, Fox Broadcasting Company; chairman and CEO, American Sky Broadcasting;  president, ABC Television Network; and EVP, government relations at The Walt Disney Company. Padden has also served on the boards of The National Association of Broadcasters and The Motion Picture Association of America.

Regan previously was EVP of global public policy at 21st Century Fox, and SVP of external affairs at NextWave Telecom, and as telecommunications counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Commerce.

Sherwin previously founded and served as This Technology, a video and ad-tech startup sold to Comcast in 2015. He also cofounded and served as managing director or Cauldron Solutions (now Anystream Media).

Shull is CEO of Weather Group, which heads up The Weather Channel television network and its new LocalNow local news service. He previously was chief commercial officer and EVP at Dish Network, and also served as Dish’s SVP of content acquisition and programming, and was managing director of EchoStar International.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Goes For The Big Bundle

“Layer3 TV set out to be a great partner to content providers while also giving our customers a phenomenal experience,” Gardner said in a statement. “This group of talented executives supporting the company and joining the Content Advisory Board demonstrates that and will bolster the energy and success of Layer3 TV. Together, this group brings decades of experience and knowledge related to content acquisition, partnership and utilization strategies.”

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based next-gen cable TV provider, confirmed that it has forged a marketing and technology agreement with NextLight, a municipal service provider that is building out a city-wide fiber network in Longmont, Colo.

The agreement, first reported by the Daily Camera, enables NextLight to add video service to a service bundle that already offers digital voice and broadband service, including a symmetrical, uncapped 1-Gig Internet tier.

Jeff Binder, CEO of Layer3 TV, said Layer3 TV's managed IPTV service for NextLight customers started to become available over the weekend.

According to a web site dedicated to that offer, Layer3 TV is offering video service to NextLight customers under the promotional price of $74 per month, a discount of $25, plus three months of HBO. NextLight competes in the market against incumbents such as Comcast and CenturyLink.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Goes For The Big Bundle

The public/private partnership represents another potential deployment angle for Layer3 TV, if it were to partner up with other municipal providers that were looking to add an IP-based pay TV service to their bundles.

Binder said Layer3 TV is looking at other opportunities with muni providers that are building their own community networks and looking to create a synthetic services bundle.

UPDATE:For the rollout with NextLight in Longmont, Layer3 TV is using a fleet of Tesla vehicles to perform installs and other customer visits. Layer3 TV has also been using a fleet of electric-powered BMW i3 vehicles. 

RELATED: Layer3 TV's Fleet Goes Green

Layer3 TV has launched service in the Chicago and Washington, D.C., metro areas, and still has plans to debut service in its hometown of Denver. Its trial in two Texas markets served by Suddenlink Communications (now part of Altice USA) and offered under the “Umio TV” brand is no longer active.

Binder confirmed that NextLight approached Layer3 TV about forming the video partnership, noting that Layer3 TV has established a hub that services the Longmont area. Layer3 TV also operates a “super headend” inside a large data center based in the Denver area that serves its current batch of pay TV markets.

RELATED: Layer3 TV: A Different Kind of Animal

Construction of NextLight’s city-wide network started in 2014, and the major construction (including the underground work and technical services that include the pulling, splicing and testing of the fiber) is essentially done, according to Scott Rochat, spokesman with Longmont Power & Communications.

RELATED: Layer 3 TV Opens TV Everywhere Authentication

He estimates that about 80% of the network is built out and growing, and that LPC expects to finish it this year.

NextLight sells a symmetrical 1-Gig residential service for $49.95 per month for “Charter” members who sign up within three months of the service being available to them. The standard rate for the 1-Gig service is $99.95 per month, though, under a loyalty discount, NextLight reduces that price to $59.95 for customers who remain on the standard price level for a year.

NextLight has about 38,000 electric service customers, a figure that includes some customers that are based outside the city limits (and beyond the reach of the city-wide fiber network that's being built).

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based next-gen cable operator, said it has begun to offer some live and on-demand video in 4K, noting that all of its deployed boxes support the format.

Early on, Layer3 TV is offering on-demand access to Planet Earth II (all six episodes as they become available each week through late April), as well as the Nasa TV channel, in 4K/Ultra HD.  

Those customers, who will also require a 4K-capable TV to view content in the format, can get Layer3 TV’s 4K content for no additional fees, the company said, noting that customers on its allHD Platinum package, can access Planet Earth II on demand through April 24, and can tune in any time to the Nasa TV UHD feed on channel 350.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Goes For The Big Bundle

Layer3 TV joins a growing mix of MVPDs that offer some 4K programming and content. Among examples are DirecTV, Dish Network and Comcast, which is sampling some 4K on-demand fare via an OTT app for select smart TVs from Samsung and LG but will expand on that when it introduces a 4K-capable box for its X1 service.

Additionally, more than a dozen telcos and cable operators, including Frontier Communications and Buckeye Broadband, are testing the delivery of nine UHD channels (including Nasa’s 4K channel) to a subset of customers working in tandem with SES.

RELATED: SES Adds Cable Operators to 4K Trial Mix

U.S. consumer adoption of 4K-capable TVs has been outpacing, and will continue to outpace, the transition to HDTV sets, according to a recent study from the Consumer Technology Association.

Layer3 TV has launched its IPTV service in the Chicago and Washington, D.C., metro areas. Its web site still says that the service is “coming soon” to Layer3 TV's hometown of Denver.

RELATED: Layer3 TV: A Different Kind of Animal

“Our planet and universe provide a perfect canvas to showcase Layer3 TV’s 4K capabilities,”  Lindsay Gardner, Layer3 TV’s chief content officer, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to bring Planet Earth II and NASA TV UHD to our customers and committed to adding more 4K linear channels and 4K VOD as content becomes available.”

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based next-gen cable operator, has hired industry vet Gregg Grigaitis to the post of chief product officer.

Grigaitis, who will head a team that oversees Layer3 TV’s product strategy, product management and overall product development, most recently was with Suddenlink Communications, the MSO now owned by Altice USA. At Suddenlink Grigaitis played a big role in rolling out products like TV Caller ID, a TiVo-powered video product, SuddenLink2Go and the MSO’s ConnectedHome Security platform.

RELATED: Suddenlink Rolls Home Automation Service

Grigaitis previously was SVP of product and business development at Broadbus Technologies, the VOD server/tech company acquired by Motorola in 2006 and founded by current Layer3 TV CEO Jeff Binder. Prior to that, Grigaitis was director of GuestServe and Movie Products at SeaChange International.

Grigaitis reports to Binder and will be based at the Layer3 TV headquarters in Denver.

RELATED: Say Hello to ‘Concierge Cable’

Layer3 TV currently offers service in the Washington, D.C., metro and in the Chicagoland markets, with Denver on deck.

RELATED: Layer3 TV: A Different Kind of Animal

“Gregg joining Layer3 TV is not just a win for our customers, as he will pour his 25 years of experience into phenomenal products, but also a win for our company, which strives to attract the top talent in the industry,” Binder said in a statement. “I’ve personally worked with Gregg for many years and I know he is devoted to creating the best products in the cable ecosystem. Gregg will be a huge asset in developing and executing the goals on our product roadmap.”

“What excited me about Layer3 TV, was the incredible team Jeff has built, and also the company culture that is laser focused on building products that put customers first,” added Grigaitis.  “I am excited to be able to contribute to Layer3 TV as it aggressively scales a remarkable service.”

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based next-gen cable operator, said it has expanded its “allHD” package with the launch of Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

Financial terms were not announced, but Layer3 TV said both channels – from Crown Media Family Networks – are now available on its mostly widely-distributed package, called Platinum.  Its allHD lineup features more than 250 channels and includes the HD feed of all channels that offer one.

Layer3 TV said it’s also adding those channels amid Hallmark Channel’s annual “Countdown to Valentine’s Day” programming tilt, which features five new original love-themed movies, and started on Jan. 29 with the premiere of Love Locks, starring Jerry O’Connell and Rebecca Romjin.

RELATED: Say Hello to ‘Concierge Cable’

Layer3 TV currently offers service in the Washington, D.C., metro and in the Chicagoland markets. It’s expected to launch in Denver next. According to The Denver Post, Layer3 TV was anticipating a service launch in its home market by mid-January, but that timing appears to have slipped. At last check, Layer3 TV’s Web site notes that the company plans to bow services in the Mile High City “soon,” but does not cite a specific date.

Layer3 TV is an IP-delivered video service, but does not consider itself an “over-the-top” offering in part because its video signals do not traverse the public Internet from their origination point to the local market. But, unlike a traditional cable operator, Layer3 TV doesn’t own and operate the local-access network.

RELATED: Layer3 TV: A Different Kind of Animal

 “We are thrilled to bring our customers Crown Media’s two distinct networks, which provide top quality family entertainment for everyone in the household,” said Lindsay Gardner, Layer3 TV’s chief content officer, in a statement. “Layer3 TV is dedicated to bringing customers a premium service and will always be adding content, features and experiences to achieve that end.”

Getting in on more of the gridiron action before the close of the NFL’s regular season, Layer3 TV said it has inked a deal to offer NFL Network and NFL RedZone.

The deal, announced Thursday, comes in time to carry tonight’s game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles (also available on NBC and streamed via Twitter), and two games to be offered on NFL Network this weekend – the Cincinnati Bengals vs. the Houston Texans on Christmas Eve, and the Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers matchup on Christmas Day.

RELATED: Say Hello to ‘Concierge Cable’

Layer3 TV said NFL Network is included in its baseline “allHD Platinum” package (offered to all its subs), and will offer NFL RedZone on its Sports & Info tier, which also features channels such as ESPN Classic, Great American  Country, Pac-12 networks, Fox College Sports, Outside Television, Fight Network, Ride TV and CNBC World, among others.

RELATED: Layer3 TV: A Different Kind of Animal

Layer3 TV, a full-freight, IP-based pay TV service, is currently available in the Washington, D.C., metro area, and in the Chicagoland market. Its headquarters city of Denver is also on deck to get service.

Updated: Layer3 TV told The Denver Postthat it expects service to launch in the Mile High City in mid-January 2017, and is now in the process to take pre-orders for consumers who want to be at the top of the list when deployments get underway.  To help prime the pump, Layer3 TV is also offering discounts of $10 per month for the first year, the paper noted.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Conducting Marketing Tests in D.C. Area

“Layer3 TV’s subscribers can now get all NFL Network games and original programming as well as all the action from Sundays during the regular season on NFL RedZone,” Lindsay Gardner, Layer3 TV’s chief content officer, said in a statement.  “Our subscribers deserve the best, so combining NFL Network and NFL RedZone with Layer3 TV’s best-in-class picture quality and innovative technology will deliver NFL fans a crystal clear, in-home experience that won’t go unnoticed.”

RELATED: Layer3 TV Coming to Denver ‘Soon’: Report

Layer3 TV, the self-described next-generation cable operator, said it is conducting marketing tests in Washington, D.C., and other markets, but that it has not yet launched services outside of Chicago, its first market. 

TV Predictions reported this week that Layer3 TV had launched service in Washington, D.C., as well as nearby areas such as Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax, Va., and Bethesda, Md. Patch issued a report last month that Layer3 TV was offering hands-on demos and collecting service leads at kiosks located in Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Va.

While it’s expected that Layer3 TV will launch a service in that region eventually, it hasn’t yet. A company official said Layer3 TV is conducting marketing tests in the D.C. area and in a number of other markets around the country to gather leads and to gauge interest in the company's service. 

However, if one inputs a Washington, D.C., zip code on the Layer3 TV web site, it does pull up a proposal for its base “Platinum allHD” service (200-plus channels in HD, 10,000-plus VOD titles) along with its “white glove installation” for $99 per month for 12 months, and four channels of Epix for the first six months. Layer3 TV’s marketing pitch for that region also touts add-on premium multiplexes from HBO ($15 per month), Cinemax ($20 per month), and Showtime ($11 per month), along with En Español PLUS for $10 per month, Movies & Music PLUS ($10 per month), and Sports & Info PLUS ($10/month). Interested customers are also prompted to customize the top and case of their set-tops – in white or black, with “more colors coming soon.”

Comcast and RCN are the incumbent cable operators in the Washington, D.C., area.

Layer3 TV recently launched its full-freight pay TV service in Chicago starting at about $75 per month. Layer3 TV, which currently offers a 4K channel from NASA and has plans to add more channels in the advanced format, is also conducting a trial with Suddenlink Communications (now part of Altice USA) in some parts of Texas under the Umio TV brand.

RELATED: Say Hello to ‘Concierge Cable’

Layer3 TV has been seeking installation technician positions in markets such as Denver, Houston and Washington, D.C.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Coming to Denver ‘Soon’: Report

Though Layer3 TV does not own the last mile network into the customer home (it uses standard interconnection deals with MSOs such as Comcast for that), it does operate a ‘super headend’ in the Denver area to collect and aggregate programming before distributing it to the local market via a dedicated, private connection.

“We control as much of the network as we can,” company CEO Jeff Binder said in an interview (subscription required) during a recent visit to the company’s Colorado data center. “We don’t see congestion in the last mile.”

Layer3 TV, the Colorado-based next-generation cable operator, travels high-speed connections in the local-access network to get video services into customer homes, but the company likewise insists that it’s not an “over-the-top” service like Netflix or a “virtual” MVPD such as PlayStation Vue.

So, if it’s not a traditional multichannel video-programming distributor and it’s not an OTT provider, what is it? A different animal, as it turns out.

“We’re neither fish nor fowl,” Jeff Binder, Layer3 TV’s CEO, explained, when asked about the company’s distribution architecture.

The heart of its platform is powered by products and systems that one would typically find at the headend of a traditional cable operator. Plus, Layer3 TV’s video signals do not traverse the public Internet from their origination point to the local market. But, unlike a traditional cable operator, Layer3 TV doesn’t own and operate the local-access network. Instead, it relies on standard interconnection deals with local service providers, such as MSOs, to handle that piece of it.

INSIDE ‘SUPER HEADEND’

“We control as much of the network as we can,” Binder said. “We don’t see congestion in the last mile.”

For all intents and purposes, Layer3 TV is a facilities-based pay TV operator. And many of those facilities are located in a high-security “super headend” that Layer3 TV operates inside a large data center in the Denver area.

There, Layer3 TV has about 120,000 square feet of space under management where it collects and aggregates its live channels and video-on-demand fare (it’s aiming to offer a VOD library with about 30,000 assets by year-end) and encrypts, encodes and packages that payload before delivering it all to the local areas it serves.

During a recent visit to that headend facility, on display was much of what you’d expect to see in a cable headend. Racks of equipment with blinking lights sit behind locked metal cages, all cloistered within a cool, climate-controlled area.

While Layer3 TV’s transmissions are entering Chicago-area homes on Comcast’s high-speed access network in the early going, the plan is to support multiple ISPs that can provide the necessary data requirements.

Layer3 TV is also working with Altice USA-owned Suddenlink Communications on a trial under the Umio TV brand in two Texas markets. Altice is reportedly one of Layer3 TV’s unannounced investors.

It wouldn’t be a big surprise to see Layer3 TV forge interconnection deals with RCN at some point — RCN and Grande Communications were recently acquired by TPG Capital, which is also an investor in Layer3 TV.

In addition to this new distribution approach, another difference from traditional cable is that Layer3 TV is an all-IP video service. The company doesn’t need to support a legacy system that uses less-efficient MPEG/QAM transport technologies.

It employs adaptive bit rate technologies to deal with fluctuations in available bandwidth, but tailors its video streams for large-screen TVs and ensures they do not dip below HD quality.

To keep bandwidth requirements in check, Layer3 TV also uses High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265), an encoding scheme designed to be 50% more efficient than MPEG-4/H.264 while also producing a more stellar image.

The company declined to discuss the bit rates it needs to support its specified minimal image quality, but told Wired earlier this year that it needs about 5 Megabits per second to deliver its HD streams.

Binder said Layer3 TV is also bullish on 4K, and that his company is also ready to support High Dynamic Range (HDR), a format that delivers brighter, more colorful pixels that can be applied to 4K and HD video. Layer3 TV currently offers a 4K channel from NASA, and “will be offering several more” along with access to special events that are produced in the pixel-packed format, Binder said.

For now, Layer3 TV is not supporting a cloud DVR (“We’ll see how that market evolves,” Binder said), but its local whole-home DVR setup has enough space to store up to 2,000 shows and movies and can record up to eight shows at once. Layer3 TV is also beta-testing a mobile app (for access to TV Everywhere content) and expects to launch it “soon,” Binder said.

Notably, Layer3 TV’s Denver-area facility still has lots of open space. Its system is designed to be modular, allowing for the company to add capacity as its subscriber base grows.

Binder estimates that its current facility can support about 10 million subscribers. The company also has plans to build another super headend to serve the Eastern U.S.

But Layer3 TV doesn’t necessarily think it needs to reach its full capacity in order to be successful. “We don’t have to take over the world to be a great company,” Binder said.

Layer3 TV launched service in Chicago last month, but hasn’t identified where it will offer service next. However, the company is seeking installation supervisor positions in Denver, Houston and Washington, D.C. and Binder also told The Denver Post recently that Denver was among the cities on its market launch list.

GOING FULL FREIGHT

Binder also touched on Layer3 TV’s decision to market a full-freight pay TV service.

“The market isn’t devouring skinny bundles,” Binder said. Targeting a part of the market that wants slimmed-down bundles is a “small market opportunity” that’s also exposed to high rates of churn, he added.

And despite the rise of multichannel services like Sling TV and PS Vue, he doesn’t think OTT is a long-term conduit for delivering pay TV packages, but one that is better suited for delivering tailored, more focused fare.

“I think OTT is a temporary phenomenon for mainstream content,” Binder said, predicting that OTT services will essentially represent new “channels” for MVPDs that are already pretty good at bundling TV and video services.

And he’s not fretting too much about usage-based data policies. “Caps are the exception, not the norm,” Binder said.  

Layer3 TV is preparing to launch its white-glove, concierge-style service in its hometown city of Denver “soon,” possibly later this year, company CEO Jeff Binder told The Denver Post.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Opens Its Denver Headquarters

He didn’t reveal a launch date, but seeing Layer3 TV offer service in the backyard of its corporate headquarters doesn’t come as a huge surprise, as the company has been actively seeking installation technician positions in Denver. Indicating possible other launch cities, it’s also seeking candidates for that particular job in Houston and Washington, D.C. 

RELATED: Layer3 TV Seeks 'Installation Supervisor' in Handful of Markets

Layer3 TV launched its full-freight bundle in Chicago, its first market, over the Labor Day weekend, leading off with a basic package that features more than 200 channels in HD starting at $75 per month. It’s also hawking three thematic add-on tiers (Sports & Info, Movies & Music, and En Español), premium multiplexes from HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and EPIX, and a batch of a la carte offerings, including Fox Soccer Plus. 

If Layer3 TV pulls the trigger in Denver, it will be facing off with incumbent video providers, Comcast and CenturyLink, as well as satellite TV providers DirecTV and Dish Network. 

Layer3 TV doesn’t own last-mile access networks to get its service into the home in Denver, so it likely will need to rely on standard interconnection agreements with local service providers, such as Comcast, to pull that off and deliver the kind of high-quality signal that consumers will insist upon. Comcast has been asked to comment on its business relationship with Layer3 TV. 

Layer3 TV has insisted that it is not an “over-the-top” service like Sling TV, but rather a facilities-based managed IPTV service because its signals ride a secure, dedicated IP transmission path into the communities it is serves before it is handed off to the local access network (Multichannel News will have much more on this technical approach soon). 

Convinced that there’s limited consumer interest in so-called “skinny” bundles, Layer3 TV, a self-described “next-generation cable operator,” has pushed ahead with the launch of a  full-freight pay TV service in Chicago that features a baseline package of more than 200 channels in HD, including local broadcast TV feeds, that starts at about $75 per month.

Layer3 TV, which debuted service in Chicago over the Labor Day weekend, is entering the market with a baseline package called “allHD Platinum," along with a variety of genre-focused add-on packages, premium packages, and some a la carte options.

Layer3 TV still isn’t saying precisely how it’s getting service into the customer's home, since it doesn’t own the last-mile access network. However, industry sources have said that Layer3 TV is securing capacity from other area providers (Comcast and RCN are among the incumbent MSOs in the Chicago area). Still, Layer3 TV does consider itself a facilities-based MVPD that delivers a managed IPTV service.

Though there are lingering questions about that last mile element, Layer3 TV does provide just about everything else, including the installation, a fleet of electric-powered BMW i3s for its field techs, the in-home equipment, the user interface/guide, and the billing and customer care components.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Fleet Goes Green

“It’s concierge cable,” explained Lindsay Gardner, Layer3 TV’s chief content officer, the industry vet who has been spending most of his waking hours during the past two years carving out the MVPD’s carriage deals.

RELATED: Lindsay Gardner Joins Layer3 TV

Layer3 TV is starting off with a service delivered to a high-octane, 4K-capable gateway that works with smaller client boxes that provide the same functionality as the main device. Gardner said Layer3 TV has also locked in content rights for a TV Everywhere, Look Back and Start Over services that will be activated in the coming months.

"We will be activating new features all the time and will be adding new channels and new markets all the time,” he said.

Layer3 TV’s basic package features the local broadcast network and a large array of basic cable channels, including mainstays such as A&E, AMC, Cartoon Network, Discovery, Disney Channel, E!, Freeform, FS1, FX, History Channel, IFC, TLC, TNT, Turner Classic Movies, MTV, and The Weather Channel, to name but a few.

Early on, that baseline offering is being complemented by thematic add-on tiers that include Sports & Info PLUS (examples: ESPN Classic, Great American Country, Pac-12’s regionals, Ride TV and Fox College Sports); Movies & Music PLUS (Chiller, an EPIX multiplex, Reelz, Sony Movie Channel, among others); and En Español PLUS (CNN en Español, Discovery Familia, TBN Salsa and Nat Geo Mundo, among others).

Layer3 TV is also pitching a handful of premium multiplexes – EPIX PLUS, HBO PLUS, Cinemax PLUS, Showtime PLUS (noticeably absent from that list is Starz). Layer3 TV is also selling some services on an a la carte basis, including Aapka Colors and Fox Soccer Plus.

Wired reported earlier this year that Layer3 TV will be delivering HD into the home at less than 4 Mbps using the bandwidth-saving HEVC codec.

Per the company, pricing ranges from about $75 on up and is dependent on programming choices and configurations, and believes that its packages will always be competitive with like offerings from incumbent providers. The base package also includes Layer3 TV’s primary gateway/whole-home DVR and a smaller client device. Customers can rent out more devices for an additional fee. 

In addition to the beefy basic package, Layer3 TV “will do niche better than anybody does niche,” Gardner said, noting that Layer3 TV’s content team negotiated all of its own carriage deals and has 20,000 pages of documentation to show for it.

Execs from several programmers, including Disney, Scripps Networks, Viacom, and The Weather Channel, praised Layer3 TV’s tech and approach in the MVPD’s programming release.

An example: “Layer3 TV’s user interface and packaging options offer a fantastic environment, taking advantage of the latest technology to present our content. We continue to look for new ways to reach consumers and Layer3 TV offers a great avenue to do that,” Justin Connolly, EVP of affiliate sales and marketing for Disney and ESPN Media Networks, said in a release.

4K Coming

Layer3 TV also has a 4K offering in the works. Gardner said the MVPD has already inked a deal for its first full-time 4K channel, and that several “major programmers” will be offering VOD content in the format. “In every conversation I have with a movie studio or programmer, 4K comes up,” he said.

Layer3 TV has not yet announced where it will launch service next. It’s been conducting a trial in a couple of markets in Texas under the Umio TV brand. It’s believed that Suddenlink (now owned by Altice) has been partnering with Layer3 TV in that effort.

RELATED: Layer3 TV Seeks 'Installation Supervisor' in Handful of Markets

Layer3 TV is also complementing its main video offering by integrating over-the-top and social media services, including YouTube and Facebook, and is expected to expand that slate in the coming months.

Denver-based Layer3 TV has raised about $100 million, and Altice and Paulson Co. are reportedly among its unannounced investors.

Altice and Paulson Co. are among the unannounced investors in Layer3 TV, the Denver-based, next-gen cable operator that has already raised about $100 million, according to Variety.

Layer3 TV declined to comment on its financing activities, but Variety noted that Altice’s investment comes way of its acquisition of Suddenlink Communications, though the publication said Altice and Layer3 TV  have “been quite cozy with each other for some time.” Altice, which closed its $17.7  billion purchase of Cablevision Systems last month, also declined to comment on its relationship with Layer3 TV.

Industry sources said there’s been some external interest in joining the investment mix at Layer3 TV, and that there could be some interest from those that bring strategic value to the emerging MVPD. Layer3 TV’s announced investors include Evolution Media Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners.

Layer3 TV has been tight-lipped about its specific go-to-market strategies, though it appears to have teamed up with Suddenlink for the trial of a service under the “Umio” brand in the MSO’s territories of Midland and Kingwood, Texas.

In addition to looking at deployments in which Layer3 TV could ride the distribution rights of another operator (such as it apparently did for the  Suddenlink trial), the emerging MVPD has also been developing its own pay TV service by locking in its own distribution deals with programmers and other content providers, per industry sources. Those multiple approaches would expand Layer3 TV’s deployment options.

Layer3 TV confirmed that it will “soon” launch service in the Chicago market, home to incumbent MVPDs Comcast, RCN and AT&T.

In addition to Chicago, Layer3 TV has been seeking “installation supervisor” positions in Houston, Denver and Alexandria, Va., which fuels speculation on other markets that Layer3 TV might be targeting for future service launches.

According to Variety, Layer3 TV intends to launch a service in Chicago under its own brand.

A lingering question is how Layer3 TV will get service into the home via the so-called “last mile.”

According to one industry source, one way Layer3 TV intends to do this is by securing capacity on the cable operator’s IP network paired with a revenue sharing agreement with that MSO. However, Layer3 TV, which has been marketing itself under “The New Cable” tagline, would in essence provide the market with a fresh, alternative pay TV provider to consider because Layer3 TV would be the one installing, operating and providing customer care for the service. Layer3 TV will use electric-powered BMW i3 vehicles in its service fleet.

Though Layer3 TV hasn’t said much about how it will price and market its services, its web site does shed some light on some of the features it will provide in its including no annual contracts, 4K-ready wireless set-tops, a lineup of more than 150 HD channels, personalized profiles for each viewer in the home, and a DVR that can record up to eight shows at once, with storage ranging from 1 terabyte to 3 TB. An image of the Layer3 TV remote also shows a button for a microphone, which suggests it will support voice navigation.

Layer3 TV CEO Jeffrey Binder told Wired earlier this year that Layer3 TV would be launching in Chicago and a “couple of other major cities on the East and West coasts.” The company also told the pub that it would forge deals with “large infrastructure companies” for the last mile links into customer homes.

Layer3 TV, the self-described “next generation” cable provider, is seeking an “installation supervisor” in a handful of U.S. markets.

Layer3 TV is currently looking to fill that positon in Chicago; Houston; Alexandria, Va.; and in its hometown of Denver. Layer3 TV also has an office in Boston, but does not appear to be seeking an installation supervisor there.

Per the job description, a Layer3 TV Installation Supervisor will be tasked with managing and training technicians (contractors and employees), performing in-home installation, cable modem provisioning and in-home cable and wireless networks. The job will also be good for candidates who know their way around DOCSIS, WiFi, and Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA, technology that delivers IP video and other content over home coax lines at high speeds for applications such as whole-home DVRs).

The location of those jobs could fuel further speculation on which markets Layer3 TV will target in the early phases of its service deployment.

Layer3 TV, which will use electric-powered BMW i3 vehicles in its service fleet, has been offering its IP-delivered service under the “Umio” brand in a couple of its early test markets for -- Midland and Kingwood, Texas – also the territory of incumbent cable operator Suddenlink (now part of Altice).

In a recent company profile in Wired, Layer3 TV CEO Jeffrey Binder said the company would also be launching in Chicago and a “couple of other major cities on the East and West coasts.” Per that report, Layer3 TV’s offering will sell for $80 to $150 per month, depending on how many TVs are connected to the service.

The story also shed some more light on Layer3 TV service distribution strategy. It won’t deliver content into the home over-the-top, but will instead come in via managed IP connections, and lean on a distribution facility in the Denver along with a 12,000-mile fiber backbone that will link it to individual markets that Layer3 TV will serve. For the last mile link, Layer3 TV will forge deals with “large infrastructure companies.”

Layer3 TV is not commenting further about its service deployment plan.