Report: 80% Chance of iPhone Coming to T-Mobile
By Ed Oswald | Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Here we go again! This time it’s Cult of Mac, with a “highly placed source” saying T-Mobile is going to start selling the iPhone in the third quarter of this year. In English, that means the device would appear in the next two months or so. Talks are apparently in an “advanced stage,” and the source puts the odds at about 80 percent that it’s going to happen.
This would be a huge victory for the nation’s fourth largest carrier. Verizon has been long rumored to be the next US carrier to get the iPhone once the AT&T exclusivity ends (whenever that is). But certainly, Verizon’s marketing has turned markedly more anti-Apple in recent weeks. That’s certainly NOT the way to court the company that you are apparently trying to court.
With T-Mobile there is one big problem, and that’s their 3G frequencies. They operate on a non-standard 1700/2100 MHz band, whereas AT&T uses the standard 1900MHz for 3G with 850MHz in certain markets. That means the 3GS is not going to work on T-Mobile.
The iPhone 4 works on 2100MHz, but it is unknown if 1700MHz support was added as well as no testing has been done. This would be the biggest hurdle that would need to be crossed in order to make this even a remote possibility.
Cult of Mac’s track record with scoops is not the best, so I’d take this with a grain of salt for the moment. However, at the same time, T-Mobile USA still makes the best sense. Apple’s already working with parent company Deustche Telekom in Europe, so the two companies talking is certainly not out of the question.
Any T-Mobile USA customers on here? I’m a former one, and used an unlocked iPhone 2G on the carrier for almost a year. Don’t know if I would go back, but I know a lot of people who simply won’t switch to AT&T just because it’s AT&T. What say you all?
18 Comments
Read more:
18 Comments For This Post
July 21st, 2010 at 8:59 am
iPhone 3GS also operates at 2100MHz.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3gs/specs.html
July 21st, 2010 at 9:47 pm
This may be a very positive thing for them, as carriers like Verizon are rumored to be capping their data plans. And plus, this may help them get a lot more subscribers.
July 21st, 2010 at 2:54 pm
But, you will need to order http://www.hifi3d.com/ in addition to your new iPhone 4.
July 21st, 2010 at 10:44 pm
LOL Dave! Wow, a joke turns into a profitable business. Why the heck didn't I think of this (damnit)
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:16 am
LOL.. Thats too funny. I'm not having any issues, but then again I'm right handed, in a strong network area, and don't cup the phone. 🙂
I have however been able to reproduce it by doing exactly the following. First get in a 4 bar or lower area. Next lick palm of hand or finger. Next cover that exact spot with the most part of your hand. Voila.. Bars disappear. Remove 1 of the 3 pieces and you get one bar loss at most.
I ended up getting the case(bumper) which is much nicer then you think(I thought it was like a fat rubber band). It's nice because I can put it on my dash and it doesn't move, or on my desk. Keeps it up just enough so it doesn't scratch.
To describe the bumper. Imagine a polished piece of plastic square with metal like buttons that match the phones. Then in front of and behind the plastic is the rubberized area.
July 22nd, 2010 at 12:56 am
Yes please so I can get away from ATT
July 22nd, 2010 at 2:09 am
This would be great! T-mobile is such a great company to work with, but they need to improve their coverage overall
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:53 am
I'll definitely move (back) to T-Mo once my 3GS contract is over, if they already have iPhone in their stack. AT&T is too much of neck choking and head banging these days.
July 22nd, 2010 at 12:02 pm
There's an 80% chance the original report is not credibile.
July 22nd, 2010 at 2:11 pm
I don't know how T-moblie is different from the others.
July 22nd, 2010 at 3:02 pm
The only way this story has legs would be if the iPhone supported Tmoble's 3G. Otherwise it would be about as useful as buying the original iPhone today – severely limited to EDGE speeds no matter what. That might have been acceptable 3 years ago, but data demands on the iPhone have increased considerably.
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:06 am
Apple can produce a custom iPhone for T-Mobile if they figure it's worth the effort. Since T-Mobile is big enough to sell at least 500k iPhones per quarter I'd say it's absolutely worth it.
July 22nd, 2010 at 11:20 pm
What ever happened to the iPhone coming to Verizon? I thought that was supposed to be a certainty now I am not so sure.
Anyone have any information about that?
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:10 am
I've been wondering that as well. Im hoping it's tied to a 4G announcement.
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:12 am
We will know on the day it's announced. I still consider the last Friday of September the day that AT&T exclusivity runs out, and there will be at least one US carrier adding the iPhone on that day.
While Verizon, as the market leader, is most desirable to Apple, T-Mobile and Sprint are more likely because they don't have the power to force Apple to preinstall Junkware on the iPhone (as they do on Android phones) and ask for a cut in iTunes revenue.
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:09 am
Personally I would like to see the iPhone at least on the big 3. Sprint to me makes the most sense as Wi-Max is out and can do calls and data NOW.. The new 4g standard will do both and that makes sense for Verizon to join then.
At that point it's win, win, win for us the consumer. We can choose our phone, and out plan.
The only thing what would make it even more fantastic is to remove the lockin that the carriers and phone makers give us. I think the apprehension of a 600 dollar phone goes down IF we knew that we could take our (Insert carrier name here) and move it to whatever other carrier we want. The chips are there that can do cdma, gsm, etc.. So come on guys.. Give it to us!!
September 26th, 2011 at 3:06 am
Thank goodness some bloggers can still write. Thanks for this article
November 1st, 2011 at 4:58 am
I fully agree completely…