Gone are the days of triple play's phone, internet and TV packages. Today, it's all about quadruple play, and T-Mobile COO Mike Sievert said the proposed merger with Sprint will help the combined company get there.
"So T-Mobile is in the position as a new T-Mobile to be able to offer a quad play, if that's what the market wants," Sievert said on a call with investors.
Quadruple play, or "quad play," is the concept of bundling phone, wireless, entertainment and broadband internet services together in one bill under one provider. Last year, T-Mobile acquired Layer 3 TV, with the aspiration of breaking into television.
"Those [TV] aspirations obviously get ratcheted up in the context of bringing together Sprint and T-Mobile, because now you have a network where you can provide this all this IPTV [internet streaming] service not just through their home broadband connection or onto their smartphone, but through a wireless alternative to their home broadband as well," Seivert said.
Although quadruple bundling is popular in Europe, it hasn't quite taken off in the U.S. And Sprint already had one failed quad play attempt. In 2005, the company worked with Comcast and Time Warner Cable to offer combined cable and wireless services. The cable companies pulled out in 2008.
In addition to quadruple pay, T-Mobile executives hammered home the narrative that Sprint and T-Mobile would work together to compete with Verizon and AT&T on 5G.
T-Mobile executives insist the 5G era will end the competitive advantage providers, like Verizon, have long had and promote increased network hopping.
"I think this new company, the new T-Mobile, has a chance to create a new kind of network-based competition that could drive switching again. And we intend to be a very fierce competitor on value, on price and our network," Sievert said.
Having spent all day discussing the proposed merger with regulators in Washington D.C., CEO John Legere said he felt "confident in the transaction."
Thompson Reuters contributed to this post.