Launch of T-Mobile US’s vaunted TV service is set to be delayed after the project proved more complicated than first anticipated, Bloomberg reported.

Detailing its content strategy in October, COO Mike Sievert said the company expected to switch on the fixed version of the service by the end of 2018, with a mobile version to follow in 2019.

In an interview with Mobile World Live at MWC Americas, CTO Neville Ray noted it was already trialling the system in a number of major US cities and gathering feedback.

However, Bloomberg reported that due to unspecified complications, rollout for the first version would now be pushed into 2019 with the exact date still under wraps.

Prospects of its online TV service have been talked-up by T-Mobile since the acquisition of cable TV company Layer3 TV, which completed in January.

Several of its executives have voiced bullish comments on the company’s prospects of disrupting the online TV market, both in the home and through streaming to mobile handsets.

Moving into broadcast will see T-Mobile compete with traditional cable and satellite providers, online giants including Netflix and rival mobile operators which have already made serious plays in that space.

Rival AT&T has operated DirecTV since 2016 and plans for a new streaming service by Q4 2019, while Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg believes his company can disrupt the entertainment industry through big-name partnerships and bundling services with its 5G FWA network.

Verizon’s troubled mobile video app Go90 was abandoned earlier this year.