With Sprint set to join AT&T and Verizon in offering the iPhone in the United States, T-Mobile appears to be the last of the four major carriers that will be without the device. While a few rumors had allowed those looking for an iPhone on T-Mobile to hold out hope, an internal news posting revealed that the carrier's Chief Marketing Office Cole Brodman had confirmed at a company town hall meeting that T-Mobile USA would not be offering the iPhone 5 this year.
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Brodman has now followed up with an open letter to T-Mobile customers, thanking them for their loyalty and making clear that the carrier is interested in carrying the iPhone.
We’ve heard from many customers who love their T-Mobile service, but are disappointed that we don’t carry the iPhone. To these customers, first, thank you for your business. Please know that we think the iPhone is a great device and Apple knows that we’d like to add it to our line-up. Today, there are over a million T-Mobile customers using unlocked iPhones on our network. We are interested in offering all of our customers a no-compromise iPhone experience on our network.
Brodman offers no additional details on the state of negotiations between T-Mobile USA and Apple, instead promoting the company's latest Android handsets and positioning them as able to "rival or beat" any other smartphone on the market, "including the iPhone."
AT&T is in the process of trying to acquire T-Mobile USA, although it has run into opposition from the U.S. government and rival carriers. Regardless, AT&T has indicated that T-Mobile USA would be operated independently from AT&T for some time after the completion of the merger, so it is unclear how quickly T-Mobile might be able to gain the iPhone even under that scenario.
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Pick the common GMS frequencies and you might get the phone next time.
T-Mobile does have "common GSM frequencies." Their GSM/Edge network is 100% 1900Mhz. But there is only so much spectrum to go around and the big 3 gobbled it all up. That is why T-Mobile was nearly 2 years late launching 3G. They didn't have enough spectrum. So, the government offered up 1700Mhz AWS spectrum and T-Mobile led the charge along with Cricket and Metro PCS in the auction.T-Mobile isn't using 1700Mhz as it's "choice." It's all that is left. But hell... Apple made a special CDMA iPhone 4 for Verizon... why not make an AWS iPhone for T-Mobile?
Even then... AT&T is gobbling up T-Mobile for their 1700mhz spectrum to deploy LTE on it. So it is "good enough" for AT&T. And I am sure that when the 2012 iPhone launches with LTE, Apple will support 1700Mhz LTE for AT&T along with both sides of the 700Mhz spectrum for Verizon and AT&T both.
And Sprint? Sprint is currently running WiMax at 2500 Mhz spectrum. When they convert to LTE (not "if"... "WHEN"), then we will have LTE 2500Mhz too.
Like Samsung, HTC and Moto learned a long time ago... you have to learn to accept it all.
quite frankly, i LOVE not being required to have a data plan. Everywhere has wifi these days, and when I REALLY want to use the net on the go, I tether to my iPad. I personally think it's TOTAL CRAP that carriers require a seperate data package for each of your devices, and am glad that I can use my iPhone how i want, with whom I want.
This just seems... weird.
Maybe.