Broad Rollout of iPhone to Small U.S. Carriers Coming on April 20
Earlier today, we noted that nTelos Wireless, a CDMA carrier based in Waynesboro, Virginia, announced that it would begin carrying the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 on April 20. Pricing for the device comes in at $50 below the standard pricing charged by Apple and the major national carriers.
We've been updating that article with mentions of several other carriers that have also announced iPhone launches for that date, and it is quickly becoming apparent that this is a rather significant coordinated rollout to small CDMA carriers. Among the carriers launching the iPhone on April 20:
- nTelos Wireless (Virginia)
- Alaska Communications (Alaska)
- Appalachian Wireless (Kentucky)
- GCI (Alaska)
- Cellcom (Wisconsin): Website updated with "coming soon" banner, and WSAW reports that April 20 is the launch date.
- Matanuska Telephone Association (Alaska)
With six small carriers having already announced today, we're also asking readers to let us know if they spot word of any others involved in this rollout.
Mississippi-based C Spire Wireless was the first regional carrier in the United States to begin offering the iPhone last November, and today's announcements represent a significant expansion of that channel. While the carriers announcing availability today represent only a small fraction of U.S. mobile phone users, the trend of making the iPhone availability to these customers may help some of these carriers remain viable as the cellular marketplace continues to become increasingly dominated by the major carriers.
Update: GCI has confirmed to MacRumors that it will be offering the GSM version of all iPhone models, including the iPhone 3GS, which will be free with a two-year contract. The carrier operates both GSM and CDMA networks, and it was initially unclear on which network the latest iPhone models would run. All of the other carriers announcing today operate CDMA networks.
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