T-Mobile US declares war on cable incumbents with Layer3 TV acquisition

In a characteristic move, T-Mobile US has announced it intends to disrupt the US cable market in same way it has the mobile one.

As ever the narrative focuses on what is described as an uncompetitive market that serves is customers poorly. Apparently cablecos are even more despised in the US than mobile operators and TMUS wants to inject a bit of competition into that space by offering its own OTT video service.

The Layer3 acquisition seems to be a relatively small one (the price wasn’t revealed) more about technology than content. As a consequence TMUS expects the deal to go through quickly and to be able to start messing with the likes of Comcast and Cox next year.

“People love their TV, but they hate their TV providers,” said TMUS CEO John Legere. “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.”

Most of the rest of the announcement is more of this sort of thing, complete with exclamation marks, profanity and hysterical hyperbole. We’re never shy about taking the piss out of the self-parody that is Legere but, to be fair, he seems to have played a blinder here. Anyone who values competition should approve of this move, which you can learn more about in the sometimes hilarious video below.