Just in case you were getting tired of all those iPhone-to-Verizon rumors, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu has thrown a change-up by predicting that T-Mobile will be the next American iPhone carrier. According to All Things Digital, Wu told his clients:
Currently, T-Mobile’s 3G service (UMTS/HSPA) supports 1700 MHz and 2100 MHz frequencies while AT&T supports 850 MHz and 1900 MHz frequencies. Interestingly, both the new iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS support 3G at the 2100 MHz frequency and, from our understanding, the technical hurdle to support T-Mobile is minor compared to supporting CDMA technology at VZ and Sprint.
I would love an iPhone 4 on T-Mobile. A (seemingly) great phone coupled with T-Mobile’s excellent pricing?!? Sign me up — especially if the phone takes advantage of T-Mo’s HSPA+ build-out. That said, T-Mobile has the smallest footprint of the four major American carriers. While it would advantageous for Apple to be on multiple carriers, Sprint or Verizon would probably be better choices.
At the end of the day, I’m totally writing this off as more garbage spouted by an analyst. This information is only slightly more meaningful than a Sprint CSR telling a customer that the iPhone is headed for Sprint in Q3.
Would any of you be interested in an iPhone on T-Mobile?
i would if pricing were much better than At&t. The only reason i'm with At&t is that they always have phones that i like. My gf wants an iphone but not the at&t service.
meh, still on GSM = similar signal strength to me. I'd rather see a Verizon LTE version within 1 year
I hope the iPhone goes to a different network soon. I would like AT&T to start getting some of these promised phones in soon that compete with the iPhone
I'd like it to go to more than one extra network. I need the bandwidth drain spread evenly. I hope VZW gets it though. Free up nearly 50% of space lol
@SlickyFats It depends what you mean by soon. It will eventually happen…probably next year, but maybe as soon as Q4 this year.
@smarguy Eventually, I think an iPhone of some sorts will be available on all four majors. Initially, I'd guess that Apple will start with one other partner.
Well up until this point the best things about T-Mobile have been the sidekick and Catherine Zeta Jones…and really the phones I can do without.
@bsukenyan T-Mobile has the best pricing out of the big four. It was also the first carrier to offer an Android phone (G1). Its support of UMA has been incredibly useful for me when traveling internationally. Should I leave T-Mobile, that will be the toughest thing to give up.
@Ray
I forgot about the G1, that's right! They always seem to be a pretty good network, I just don't hear of too many people having them in the areas I am usually in. The parts of Ohio and Indiana I have lived in have been Verizon dominated. Most of all though, I like the T-Mobile commercials the best though out of the big 4, mostly because they feature Catherine Zeta-Jones…she is unbeatable.