Last month saw six small U.S. carriers begin offering the iPhone for the first time, and it appears that another round of expansion to similar carriers is coming on May 18. Four new iPhone carriers, all operating CDMA networks, have rolled out their announcements so far today:
- Bluegrass Cellular (Kentucky)
- Golden State Cellular (California)
- Nex-Tech Wireless (Kansas)
- Pioneer Cellular (Oklahoma)
As with other regional carriers, the new entrants will be offering the iPhone at $50 below the standard pricing available through Apple and the major carriers. Under the discounted pricing, the iPhone 4S will be priced at $149/$249/$349 and the iPhone 4 will be available for $49.
Given the small nature of the carriers announcing their iPhone launches, publicity is somewhat unorganized and we're asking readers to let us know if they spot word of any others involved in this round of launches.
Top Rated Comments
unlike original release, iPhone is not that unique or percentage of smartphone users.
What is the issue bringing the technology to all?
I would like to see more Unlocked iPhones with much better price point may be $450 to $500???
More money for Apple. Is there something wrong with that? Plus it's an easy way to close the gap with Android phones right???
Elitist attitudes like that are what give Apple users a bad name. Apple should not be trying to limit who buys their products, they should work on making the best products.
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So do iPhones on these small carriers say "Bluegrass," "Golden State," etc instead of "Verizon"/"AT&T"/"Sprint" or do they have a more generic carrier signal listing like some of the iPhone promo shots (that will say "3G" with no company listed as carrier)
What does Tim Cook have to do with this story?
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Lack of competition hurts only one group, us, the consumer.
Your absurdly closed-minded attitude is disturbing.
They declined the chance due to apple's terms