Verizon may be looking for some help launching its 5G home internet service with a bang. Sources talking to Bloomberg have claimed that Big Red is looking to team up with either Apple or Google to provide a streaming TV service when its fixed 5G broadband launches later in 2018. Although talks are still young and could easily go south, the insiders said it would either draw on YouTube TV or “Apple TV” (a service, not the device) to provide live programming. That last part is a head-scratcher, since Apple isn’t expected to launch a video-focused service until roughly March 2019 — Verizon might have to be patient.
The price of the 5G-oriented service is still “under discussion,” the sources said. YouTube TV costs $40 per month, though, so we wouldn’t expect that price to vary unless there are significant changes.
Apple and YouTube have declined to comment. We’ve asked Verizon if it can speak about the subject as well. Regardless of what Verizon says, there’s little doubt that it would want help providing video — the company’s in-house offerings haven’t fared very well. It’s shutting down its free Go90 service after struggling to find a wide audience, and it quietly dropped a live TV initiative that would have taken on the likes of DirecTV Now and Sling TV. Even if a partnership was only temporary (as CFO Matt Ellis hinted in May), it could represent the network’s best chance at a ‘hook’ that convinces early adopters to climb aboard.
