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iPhone Finally Coming To T-Mobile In 2013

Posted by Soulskill on from the they-move-quickly dept.

New submitter kc67 sends this report from ABC: "Five years after the iPhone originally launched in 2007, T-Mobile will finally start carrying it. It might not be as buzz-worthy as when Verizon finally got the iPhone back in 2011, but it's going to be a pretty big deal for T-Mobile subscribers next year, when the carrier starts selling Apple products. ... T-Mobile USA CEO John Legere said while speaking at the Deutsche Telekom conference Thursday that it will carry the iPhone and will offer it in a different way. 'What was missing? A certain number of customers wouldn't come to the store if we didn't have the iPhone,' Legere said. 'We worked very, very hard for a deal that made sense for us.'"

6 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. Applies to the US only by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-phones/
    and you see an iPhone 5. T-Mobile have been offering it over here for a considerable time.
    About time the US caught up with other parts of the world...

  2. Re:They didn't want to make same mistakes others d by Desler · · Score: 4, Informative

    Legere mentioned offering the iPhone for $99 and then allowing customers to pay off the rest in monthly increments.

    FTFA

  3. Re:Should I get an iPhone rather than Android by Nerdfest · · Score: 3, Informative

    You should probably be aware that you can use Android without any connections to Google at all, despite the FUD. Also, Android is not your only other option.

  4. Re:...in the US. by TheNinjaroach · · Score: 3, Informative

    T-Mobile doesn't have iPhone in the US because we have a highly fragmented spectrum for cell phones. T-Mobile uses GSM, which is compatible, but in the US it's on an entirely different set of frequencies that the iPhone doesn't support.

    --
    I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
  5. Re:They didn't want to make same mistakes others d by rueger · · Score: 4, Informative

    I only pay $30 a month for "unlimited" data (up top 5 gigs at "4g") and 100 minutes of talk time

    Wow. In Canada, with Telus, $50 gets 1 gig of data, with the "option" of paying $25 for an extra 2 gigs. And Voicemail is an add-on for another $8 a month.

    --
    Three Squirrels
  6. Re:...in the US. by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Informative

    Kinda. AT&T has had the iPhone for ages so if that were the only problem...

    The issue is the 3G version of GSM, UMTS, which T-Mobile, until now, has run on the AWS spectrum. (AT&T was running it on 800MHz Cellular and 1900Mhz PCS) iPhones don't support AWS.

    T-Mobile is doing "spectrum refarming", adding 3G to its PCS frequencies. The interesting part of this is that this means an influx of iPhones shouldn't significantly affect users of better smartphones, as we'll still be able to use the AWS 3G (and in some cases, both AWS and PCS.)

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.