• by Wayne Friedman , March 30, 2021

Five months after starting up new its virtual pay TV service — in an effort to offer a full service line of communications products — T-Mobile is calling it quits.

Its two TVision services — TVision Live and TVision Vibe — will shut down at the end of April, partly due to the financial issues of its pay TV technology partner, MobiTV. It has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

At the same time, it has inked two virtual pay TV deals with independent pay TV providers —YouTube TV and Philo — to offer its customers a full lineup of communications services.

Both deals will give what amounts to a $10-a-month price break exclusively to T-Mobile customers.

YouTube TV will be T-Mobile's priciest option, now starting at $54.99/month (regularly $64.99/month). Philo is being offered as an entry-level/basic service, now $10/month (regularly $20.00/month).

Launched last fall, TVision Live had a starting price of $40/month. TVision Vibe ran at $10/month.

In a blog, President and CEO of T-Mobile Mike Sievert on Monday said changes needed to be made due to “some financial challenges” of MobiTV.

In addition, Sievert noted the importance of offering video services to communications customers -- to complement mobile and broadband services -- as well as lessons learned.

“We’ve always seen video as a critical 'door-opener' for our forthcoming home internet business, because, even today at the peak of cord-cutting and streaming, most homes still buy entertainment and internet connectivity together... I’m proud to run a business that is not afraid to learn, adapt and change.”

T-Mobile is not the first communications to pull back from all-in ownership of live TV-video business.

Last month, AT&T backed away from its video TV businesses when it struck a $7.8 billion deal with investment asset company TPG Capital to start a stand-alone video company, including DirecTV.

AT&T will retain a majority 70% stake, while TPG will take a 30% minority equity position.