T-Mobile is currently the only major U.S. carrier that does not sell Apple's popular iPhone, but that may soon change.
T-Mobile USA is next on the list to carry the iPhone, and its parent company Deutsche Telekom may announce the handset's arrival to T-Mobile during analysts day on Dec. 6 and 7, states a new report.
"Speculation is heightening" that Deutsche Telecom will announce a deal to bring the wildly popular iPhone to its U.S. subsidiary as early as next week, Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig said in a note to investors, according to a CNN Fortune report on Thursday, Nov. 29.
T-Mobile is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the United States, with an extensive user base of 33 million customers. About four million of those customers would likely buy an iPhone, speculated Craig.
So far, T-Mobile has taking a different approach to attracting current iPhonme buyers. Although it doesn't carry the handset, T-mobile is selling nano-SIM cards so customers can use unlocked iPhones on its network. Most budget-conscious shoppers, however, don't find this deal very attractive, as they prefer to purchase the $649-plus smartphone at a subsidized price associated with a multi-year contract.
Roughly 1.5 million T-Mobile customers are currently using unlocked iPhones on the carrier's network, but many are limited at 2G speeds. To address that issue, T-Mobile has been busy recently speading its high-speed HSPA+ network, which is compatible with the iPhone, to 10 new metropolitan areas, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Houston, in a bid to provide faster speeds for customers with unlocked iPhones.
Moreover, after Apple unleashed its iPhone 5 back in September, T-Mobile started urging AT&T users to bring their unlocked iPhones to its network and enjoy its truly unlimited data offerings. As part of its "Unlocked & Unlimited" campaign, T-Mobile equipped its retail stores with an iPhone 4S demo unit, and trained its sales staff to help customers set up their compatible iPhone.
The carrier is even developing a number of its own iOS apps, including Visual Voicemail, myAccount, and T-Mobile TV, in an effort to further support the iPhone. Nonetheless, T-Mobile is still the only major U.S. carrier to not sell the iPhone. Should the report prove to be accurate, the carrier could see a major boost next week.
