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T-Mobile partners to promote Google apps for messaging, cloud storage, and TV

T-Mobile is going all-in on Google apps and services. The two companies have announced a massive partnership that will see T-Mobile officially support Android Messages (with RCS, or Rich Communication Services) on all of its Android phones, and promote a range of Google’s apps and services in place of its own.

A few different Google apps and services will get pushed by T-Mobile as part of the deal. For example, Google One will be pushed as T-Mobile’s “preferred phone backup and cloud solution,” and YouTube TV will be promoted as T-Mobile’s premium live TV solution.

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“We’re building on our decade-long relationship with Google to give customers an even better experience with the world’s very best products and services offered by Android, Pixel, and YouTube,” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile. “The world’s most popular smartphone platform with Android, a broad range of premium Pixel devices, an upgraded [and] modern messaging experience on Android, and a robust entertainment offering with YouTube TV — it’s the best of Google, combined with the nation’s largest and fastest 5G network on T-Mobile.”

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The partnership also means that T-Mobile will carry and promote Google’s Pixel line of phones — which is a major win for Google. Previously, Verizon was the only carrier really promoting Pixel phones, even though they still worked on other carriers.

The promotion of YouTube TV is a particularly big part of this new deal. That’s because T-Mobile has its own TV services, including Live, Live Plus, and Live Zone. As part of the deal, T-Mobile will stop offering its own TV services in favor of YouTube TV — and T-Mobile customers will be able to get $10 off a YouTube TV subscription.

The partnership also means that T-Mobile will carry and promote Google’s Pixel line of phones — which is a major win for Google.

The move is also a pretty big win for RCS. Google has been pushing RCS as the next-generation replacement to Short Message Service (SMS), but the rollout of the service has been a little convoluted. Samsung phones still ship with Samsung Messages as the default messaging platform, however the deal between Google and T-Mobile will mean that Samsung phones on T-Mobile will use Android Messages as the default in the future, with the switch happening before the end of the year.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
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