T-Mobile could be the next carrier to receive iPhone

9th December, 2009 by adina
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Analysts see T-Mobile as the next United States carrier for the iPhone, due to Verizon’s pro-Android campaign. As AT&T’s exclusivity on iPhone sales in the United States will probably end next year, analyst Doug Reid from Thomas Weisel Partners Group believes that T-Mobile would be the best and easiest option. It is known that Google’s partnership with Verizon has put the latter in the position of an enemy to Apple. Under the circumstances, T-Mobile seems to have no rival for the moment, Verizon not being an option until 2011 when 4G would widely be available.

From the technical point of view, it is not certain that Apple would make the move. T-Mobile uses GSM and EDGE (2G) data already, but its 3G based on HSPA operates on the 1,700MHz band and needs T-Mobile specific network support in order to function properly. When using a dual-mode Qualcomm chipset, Apple could let its iPhone run on AT&T’s and Verizon’s existing networks without needing to make a completely separate device.

Another difficulty resides in the fact that T-Mobile is a relatively small company, smaller than many other carriers and would represent a poor expansion for Apple in the United States. While T-Mobile has 33.4 million customers, which represent less than half of AT&T’s number of customers, Verizon is currently larger than AT&T and could give Apple a much wider area of action. More than that, T-Mobile was declining in recent months because many customers switched for the iPhone.


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