T-Mobile To Stream Video... For Free
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The country's third-largest wireless carrier is making a play to woo customers from Verizon and AT&T- and it's all about streaming video.
John Legere, the hoodie-wearing, Red Bull-slugging, and often-swearing T-Mobile CEO enjoys his reputation as a market disrupter.
"Dumb and dumber have customers right where they want them," he says.
What Verizon and AT&T don't have, he says, is this:
"You can stream video without using any of your high-speed data bucket."
From Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Showtime, and 20 other services... How does T-Mobile make it free?
Legere says they "optimize quality" at 480p for small-screen mobile viewing -- even though most smartphones can go higher-def than that.
"DVD quality or better. For example, on a device, when you're holding it in your hand, it's not even discernible."
Legere stresses the 'BingeOn' feature can be turned off. And when you're mirroring to a big screen, say with a streaming stick that's not on the mobile network but on Wifi, the Wifi (and higher-definition video) takes over automatically.
Customers will need T-Mobile's 3GB data plan or better to qualify.