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Goin' Mobile?
Topic Started: Jul 21 2010, 03:18 PM (255 Views)
George K
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Finally
"T-Mobile" that is.
iPhone Is Coming To T-Mobile USA In Q3
Quote:
 
T-Mobile USA is very close to getting the iPhone in the fall, ending Apple’s exclusive relationship with AT&T, according to a highly placed source at the wireless company.

Talks between Apple and T-Mobile are at an advanced stage, our source says, and it’s 80 percent likely that the iPhone will be coming to T-Mobile in Q3.

The source works at T-Mobile but asked not to be quoted directly and to remain anonymous because they aren’t authorized to talk to the press.

T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, which carries the iPhone in Germany, was able to influence, the source said. T-Mobile USA is the fourth-largest U.S. carrier with 33.7 million customers.

Apple’s exclusive contract with AT&T is reportedly ending this year, and many expect Apple to offer the iPhone to other wireless companies. Overseas, Apple has routinely added extra carriers when exclusivity deals in those markets expire.

Most pundits expect Apple to add Verizon Wireless, the nation’s largest mobile phone provider with 92.8 million subscribers. AT&T is the second-largest US carrier with 87 million customers. The major problem is hardware: Verizon’s network is based on incompatible CDMA technology. However, Apple is already working with chipset-supplier Qualcomm on a CDMA chip for the iPhone, according to Wired.

But some analysts think it would be a lot simpler for Apple to go with T-Mobile, even though the carrier has a third of the customers of Verizon. AT&T and T-Mobile are the two primary GSM carriers in the US, and the iPhone wouldn’t require major hardware changes. Indeed, many T-Mobile customers already use unlocked iPhones on the company’s network.

Perhaps more importantly, a switch to Verizon would require a major realignment of corporate allegiances. Verizon is committed to Apple’s main wireless rival, Google, and has spent the last year heavily marketing the search giant’s Android phones. Verizon routinely runs ads directly attacking the iPhone. The most recent attack ad mocked the iPhone 4’s “death grip.”

Several analysts see Apple moving to T-Mobile. Last month, Shaw Wu, an analyst with Kaufman Brothers, predicted the iPhone will come to T-Mobile because of its compatible GSM network. “We continue to believe that T-Mobile USA is the most likely candidate given its use of similar cellular technology as AT&T,” he wrote in a note to investors.

Doug Reid, an analyst at Thomas Weisel, has also said on several occasions that the easiest way for Apple to extend the iPhone market would be to offer the device to T-Mobile. ”Apple wants to move away from exclusivity; T-Mobile would achieve this for Apple in the U.S.,” Reid told The Street. Reid noted the battle lines drawn up between Apple and AT&T versus Verizon and Google.

In fact, Deutsche Telekom’s CEO René Obermann already told the Financial Times that T-Mobile is getting the iPhone. ”T-Mobile USA is hoping to start selling the popular smartphone later this year or next year,” he said.

One important point, to which I don’t have the answer, is whether the iPhone 4 is compatible with T-Mobile’s 3G network. Customers with unlocked iPhone 3GS are able to use T-Mobile’s Edge data network, but not the faster 3G, which operates on the 1700/2100 MHz bands. According to Apple’s specs, the iPhone 4 adds the 2100 band, but not the 1700 band, which has led some to conclude that it is incompatible with T-Mobile’s 3G network.

However, there is some debate whether Apple simply didn’t list the 1700 band, which seems to be the convention when listing such specs. And no one has yet tested the iPhone 4 on T-Mobile’s network. Despite the efforts of the Dev Team, there isn’t yet a publicly available unlock for the iPhone 4.

T-Mobile declined to comment. “T-Mobile does not comment on rumor or speculation,” said the company’s PR department in an email to CultofMac.com.

Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Apple already tried to partner with Verizon before the iPhone launched. Apple offered the carrier an exclusive deal in 2007, which Verizon rejected over issues of software control and revenue sharing. The iPhone has been credited with AT&T’s robust growth these last few years.


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George K
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Finally
Oh, yeah.

I forgot:

Posted Image

You're welcome.
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
We'll see - nobody even knows for sure how long the exclusivity lasts between ATT and Apple. All we know is a) the original agreement, and b) that the original agreement has been changed to some degree (to what degree we have no idea). So really any end date between ATT and Apple is pure speculation.
Not to mention, there are actually Verizon towers being housed on the Apple campus for testing purposes - so I'd say they're pretty far into that R&D already.
I don't think TMobile's network can handle the increased traffic the iPhone would bring either.
It will certainly be interesting to see what comes of this though.
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Damn, George. You're a good man. :lol2:

I've had T-Mobile for a couple years and liked them better than any other company I've used.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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1hp
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Fulla-Carp

Quote:
 
I've had T-Mobile for a couple years and liked them better than any other company I've used.


Well you won't if they add the iPhone. As someone already pointed out, it will overwhelm their network. AT&T has pumped billions into upgrading their network for data and there are still complaints.
There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those that understand binary and................
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1hp
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Fulla-Carp

Wired magazine - How the Iphone Blew Up The Wireless Industry

There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those that understand binary and................
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jon-nyc
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Cheers
I was a t-mobile customer for years, from the time they bought voicestream. Voicestream built the first GSM network in the US so if you traveled a lot internationally they were the ones to use.

In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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jon-nyc
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Cheers
1hp
Jul 21 2010, 08:27 PM
Good for Apple, they needed to be blown up.

Interesting article.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
1hp
Jul 21 2010, 08:26 PM
Quote:
 
I've had T-Mobile for a couple years and liked them better than any other company I've used.


Well you won't if they add the iPhone. As someone already pointed out, it will overwhelm their network. AT&T has pumped billions into upgrading their network for data and there are still complaints.
I don't think it will be exclusive like AT&T, and I have no problems with my Blackberry on teh network.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Phlebas
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Bull-Carp
I had T-Mobile for a few years. Switched to Verizon because I kept getting dropped calls, and bad reception. I expect they've improved.
Random FML: Today, I was fired by my boss in front of my coworkers. It would have been nice if I could have left the building before they started celebrating. FML

The founding of the bulk of the world's nation states post 1914 is based on self-defined nationalisms. The bulk of those national movements involve territory that was ethnically mixed. The foundation of many of those nation states involved population movements in the aftermath. When the only one that is repeatedly held up as unjust and unjustifiable is the Zionist project, the term anti-semitism may very well be appropriate. - P*D


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apple
one of the angels
i like T mobile.. excellent customer service.
it behooves me to behold
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
George K
Jul 21 2010, 03:19 PM
Oh, yeah.

I forgot:

Posted Image

You're welcome.
Yes sir, wouldn't mind punching her numbers until I got the right ring tone...
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
Mik: The issue isn't the phone - ATT had plenty of viable smartphones when they introduced the iPhone. The issue is that the iPhone will sell SO MANY new subscribers, that the network will simply be overrun with new users. The towers won't support the traffic, and so everyone will get less badwidth (less coverage). We left ATT over this issue. If the iPhone is available on TMobile's network tomorrow, they will instantly have a huge jump in volume, and will need to deploy new towers to handle the extra traffic. Imagine the highway system in a third world country that suddenly gets an economic boom and everyone begins purchasing cars.
Posted Image
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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musicasacra
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HOLY CARP!!!
Phlebas
Jul 22 2010, 03:49 AM
I had T-Mobile for a few years. Switched to Verizon because I kept getting dropped calls, and bad reception. I expect they've improved.
Hmm, maybe.

IT had T-Mobile until we moved to this house, it's in a T-Mobile dead zone. T-Mobile tried to get us to stay with them, claiming they're adding more towers all the time. We switched to AT&T.

Five years later the cable guy came over to install some cable cards. He tried to activate them with his cell phone but said he couldn't get a signal at all.

"T-Mobile?" I asked.
"Yes! How did you know?"


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