Image source: T-Mobile.
What happened?
This week, T-Mobile (TMUS +0.48%) expanded its already large group of video content streaming partners for its Binge On feature. The wireless carrier added new providers like Dailymotion Games, Eyegroove, PBS, and PBS KIDS -- which brings its Binge On video streaming partner total to about 90.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere discussed Binge On in a press statement:
Whatever you and your family watch -- from Jon Snow to Elmo -- Binge On has everyone covered. With the sixth expansion of Binge On in just seven months, T-Mobile customers have more to choose from than ever.
Binge On allows T-Mobile users to stream video content on their phones and tablets without eating into their monthly high-speed data allotment. The perk has proved popular with the company's customers, with more than 500 million hours of video streamed since its launch. And T-Mobile says customers are streaming twice as much video with Binge On than customers who are on limited data plans.
Does this matter for shareholders?
While Binge On itself is a major advantage for T-Mobile, this latest announcement won't do much to change the company's revenues. The bigger picture here is that T-Mobile is continually making an already great feature even better.
If there is an advantage, it's in the fact that T-Mobile has used Binge On and other freebies to surpass Sprint (S +0.00%) in the lower-priced cellular service market. T-Mobile overtook Sprint as the third-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. last summer, and it hasn't looked back since. Sprint has been fighting to regain its position, but T-Mobile's latest addition of 2.2 million customers in Q1 is keeping the carrier comfortably ahead. Sprint still performs better in RootMetric's overall performance rating among the two carriers, so there's still plenty of room for T-Mobile to improve its network.
Still, T-Mobile investors should be pleased to see the carrier expanding an already popular feature, which could eventually bring more customers into the fold -- and as it does that, T-Mobile will be an even better position to take on Verizon and AT&T.
