There seems to be a ton of uncertainty surrounding the first ever release of Apple’s iPhone handset on T-Mobile network. But, an analyst with Merrill Lynch has suggested that T-Mobile is planning to announce that the iPhone 5 will come to its network in the near future. Yes folks, the T-Mobile iPhone 5 could become a reality very soon.
All the Apple iPhone models have launched on all the major US carriers including AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint and some regional carriers including C-Spire, Cricket and etc. (a total of 12). But, T-Mobile is the only carrier missing all the fun and resulting in a loss of 802,000 customers in Q4. T-Mobile don’t have support for primary 1700MHz 3G band, and the carrier has also invested spend $4 billion to add 1900MHz coverage to its towers in additional areas, in order to provide the iPhone high-speed wireless data where it’s available and it will be also suitable for 3G operation with a GSM iPhone handset. A couple of months ago, T-Mobile has started inviting the customers to try out their unlocked iPhones’ experience on its network.
During the launch of the iPhone 5 handset, T-Mobile advised its employees to sell “against the iPhone” on Sept. 21st onwards and we’ve also seen the carrier supplying the new micro-SIM kits to provide the improving support for unlocked iPhones. T-Mobile will be launching a 4G LTE network at some point in next year m but the carrier is mum on a specific time frame.
The analyst Scott Craig says that “speculation is heightening,” that the carrier will announce a deal with Apple some time in next week. That means the announcement is expected to take place on either December 6th or December 7th.
T-Mobile was the first U.S. carrier to start selling Samsung’s new addition, Galaxy Note 2 in last month and Samsung’s current flagship, Galaxy S3, has become most popular smartphone to date on T-Mobile network. This is not the first time we are hearing about T-Mobile being rumored to be officially announcing the Apple iPhone.
Anyhow, considering the several previous rumors, this news also could turn out incorrect or false altogether. I would definitely suggest you must take anything the analyst says with a grain of salt.
Source: Fortune