Is the iPhone coming to T-Mobile in Q3?

AppleInsider | T-Mobile, Apple rumored to be in 'advanced talks' for Q3 iPhone launch

T-Mobile USA is said to be in discussions with Apple to bring the iPhone to the wireless carrier this fall, ending AT&T's exclusive hold on the handset, according to a new rumor.

Citing a "highly placed source" at T-Mobile, Leander Kahney at Cult of Mac reported Wednesday that the wireless carrier and Apple are in "advanced talks." He placed an 80 percent likelihood that the iPhone will become available on T-Mobile's network this fall.

Apple became interested because of the influence of T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom, the source indicated. T-Mobile is the smallest of the four carriers in the U.S., with 33.7 million customers.

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I still call it that T-mobile will get an iPhone before Verizon, it's just technically easier.

Just like AT&T or Verizon, there will be some places where a carrier won't be as good as others.

I think in general, Tmo has pretty good coverage in cities.

Tmobile has been quietly building it's HSPA+ Network (speeds of up to 20Mbps) It's expected to be completed by 3rd quarter of this year, At that same time T-Mobile will unveil its first HSPA+-capable smartphone.... Who knows it very well likely could be the iPhone. Schweb is right the only difference now is the current iPhone lacks the 1700Mhz frequency Tmobile uses, It would be a very cheap modification for Apple. I'm sure Tmobile is more than willing at this point to bend over backwards and do anything for Apple to have a piece of the iPhone pie.

Tmo's HSPA+ is in 50 cities as of today:

T-Mobile Now Offers HSPA+ In 50 Markets - Unveils new launch cities, upgraded HSPA+ USB modem - dslreports.com

Well and while Tmo is 4th in the US, it's the US arm of T-Mobile/Deutsche Telekom which is a huge player in Europe...I'm sure the parent company is pushing Apple for this.

schweb said:

Tmo's HSPA+ is in 50 cities as of today:

T-Mobile Now Offers HSPA+ In 50 Markets - Unveils new launch cities, upgraded HSPA+ USB modem - dslreports.com

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Schweb it does kind of add up, Tmobible doesn't get a lot of attention but they have been working on this network for a while. The rumor is that iPhone will be available in Q3 of this year and Tmobile set to launch it's first HSPA+ Device in Q3, It's a strong possibility. Right now there current 3G network is just as strong where I live as At&t I did a side by side Speedtest with Nexus One (Tmobile) and 3G iPad (At&t) both are running right around 2.00-3.00Mbps

Also Tmobile in Germany has had the iPhone since the 1st generation came out, Now the very same CEO who negotiated the original iPhone deal with Tmobile Germany is now the current CEO of Tmobile USA Philipp Humm.

The funny thing is that their HSPA+ 3G network will be faster than Verizon's (and presumably AT&T's) LTE 4G networks.

schweb said:

The funny thing is that their HSPA+ 3G network will be faster than Verizon's (and presumably AT&T's) LTE 4G networks.

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I was in a Tmobile store yesterday and the sales rep was explaining to me that in some cities where HSPA+ is active, Users are getting download speeds of 7Mbps and that in time that speed can increase up to 40Mbps. He also said HSPA+ plans to cover almost 200Million by the end of 2010.

I wouldn't mind if the iphone came to tmobile. The only thing I hate about tmobile has to do with the sales people, which seem to be secret drug dealers working as phone reps at a mall. They try to lure you into their booths. I would hate for them to pull the same antics with the iphone.

idrinorbarsaku said:

I wouldn't mind if the iphone came to tmobile. The only thing I hate about tmobile has to do with the sales people, which seem to be secret drug dealers working as phone reps at a mall. They try to lure you into their booths. I would hate for them to pull the same antics with the iphone.

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That's not really different than any of the sleazy salesman for any of the carriers or "authorized" dealers.

I put those people one step above Best Buy associates on the moron scale.

The people that work at actual T-Mobile stores aren't bad, but I'm sure you'd be able to buy a Tmo iPhone from the Apple Store when they're available.

Yeah, the regular store are fine, like all other cell phone stores, but I just really hate the people who sell tmobile phones from kiosks. I have never, ever, found a good one. If you ever get the chance, try talking to the ones at the Great Northern Mall. My last encounter went like this: "Yo man! Here's the deal. See this phone? Buy it, and I'll throw in this free bt headset!" I wanted the phone regardless(MDAv2) if he did or didn't give me that headset. At the end, when it came time to sign the papers, there was a charge of 83.XX for that headset. When I told him about it, he got so mad. Mad as in he was mad that I caught him trying to be sneaky. He then tried to make up some bs about how he had just gotten a text saying that they are no longer giving out free headsets. 1 day later, I had an iphone.

I've been a T-Mobile user now for about 2 years. Mostly because they're the most economical for our usage considering air time and charges. T-Mobile like other carriers have off the street salespeople at Malls, inside of Sam's Club, Costco, and even some other chain stores like Staples. The best place to deal with them is in their stores where the sales people are trained and not overly "selling".

If T-Mobile does get the iPhone sometime late this year, I definitely will be in line to purchase two of them.

Regards.

chscag said:

I've been a T-Mobile user now for about 2 years. Mostly because they're the most economical for our usage considering air time and charges. T-Mobile like other carriers have off the street salespeople at Malls, inside of Sam's Club, Costco, and even some other chain stores like Staples. The best place to deal with them is in their stores where the sales people are trained and not overly "selling".

If T-Mobile does get the iPhone sometime late this year, I definitely will be in line to purchase two of them.

Regards.

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I agree, you gotta go with the corporate store. There are plenty of Apple authorized repair/dealers out there,but like most of you I go directly to Apple for that sort of thing and cut out the 3rd party.

I'm sure with the iPhone it will be just like At&t only Company stores will be able to sell along with a whole slew of rules, At this point I'm willing to bet the farm Tmobile will do just about anything to get there hands on that phone.

schweb said:

The funny thing is that their HSPA+ 3G network will be faster than Verizon's (and presumably AT&T's) LTE 4G networks.

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Not really.

T-Mobile is shooting out theoretical numbers for their speeds. Not to mention the smaller cap for data on the 3g networks.

Plus, seeing as the new 4g technology can be "upgraded" later I can only see the LTE and WiMAX becoming faster.

alexsd123 said:

Plus, seeing as the new 4g technology can be "upgraded" later I can only see the LTE and WiMAX becoming faster.

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That's also theoretically true too, but LTE's max is still years away at best.

The fact is that T-Mobile's real world HSPA+ is faster than the speeds Verizon has shared for their LTE network.

And what data cap on Tmo's network? They've got a 5GB soft cap, which is better than AT&T's 2GB hard cap or Verizon's soon to be announced caps.

And let's not even get into pricing advantages.

Let's just say it should be an interesting time over the next 12 months for the iPhone.

schweb said:

That's also theoretically true too, but LTE's max is still years away at best.

The fact is that T-Mobile's real world HSPA+ is faster than the speeds Verizon has shared for their LTE network.

And what data cap on Tmo's network? They've got a 5GB soft cap, which is better than AT&T's 2GB hard cap or Verizon's soon to be announced caps.

And let's not even get into pricing advantages.

Let's just say it should be an interesting time over the next 12 months for the iPhone.

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I see this move biting T-Mobile in the butt. It seems more of a short term investment than a long term investment.

As for pricing, T-Mobile is actually not very cheap. A data plan for a family it costs over 300 bucks. Not cheap. I recently switched from T-Mobile to Sprint because of this reason. Why pay more for less?

schweb said:

That's also theoretically true too, but LTE's max is still years away at best.

The fact is that T-Mobile's real world HSPA+ is faster than the speeds Verizon has shared for their LTE network.

And what data cap on Tmo's network? They've got a 5GB soft cap, which is better than AT&T's 2GB hard cap or Verizon's soon to be announced caps.

And let's not even get into pricing advantages.

Let's just say it should be an interesting time over the next 12 months for the iPhone.

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Well said, Tmobile has put themselves in a good bargaining position, Finally they have something to bring to the table over the past couple of years the big 3 Verizon,At&t and Sprint have been mud slinging. Tmobile has quietly been building this massive network, That's not over loaded with smartphones.

I think Schweb is right it's going to be interesting to see what happens.

idrinorbarsaku said:

Yeah, the regular store are fine, like all other cell phone stores, but I just really hate the people who sell tmobile phones from kiosks. I have never, ever, found a good one. If you ever get the chance, try talking to the ones at the Great Northern Mall. My last encounter went like this: "Yo man! Here's the deal. See this phone? Buy it, and I'll throw in this free bt headset!" I wanted the phone regardless(MDAv2) if he did or didn't give me that headset. At the end, when it came time to sign the papers, there was a charge of 83.XX for that headset. When I told him about it, he got so mad. Mad as in he was mad that I caught him trying to be sneaky. He then tried to make up some bs about how he had just gotten a text saying that they are no longer giving out free headsets. 1 day later, I had an iphone.

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Wow, you've pretty much described my experiences trying to walk past the T-Mobile kiosk at the mall near me.

A very overweight T-Mobile sales guy asks me, "Hey man, where'd you get that shirt?" "I've got one exactly like that." I'm thinking to myself, really... really...? "Let me ask you something else, what phone service to you have?" I'm thinking to myself, didn't see that one coming at all. Lastly, I could never picture my shirt looking good on him at all.

I've also had a T-Mobile salesperson tease me for having Verizon and berate me infront of my friend for the price rates I told him I pay. I really wanted to comment on how I could never text my friend's T-Mobile phone in the mall, cause there is no T-Mobile service in the major of the place.

I have nothing against AT&T, cause I've never gotten the chance to use any of their services, especially in my area. Anyways, I'd welcome T-Mobile having the iPhone. It'd be interesting to see how T-Mobile would compare in service and price rates compared to AT&T, if any. I'm not sure I really see Verizon having competitive price plans at all to rival AT&T's.

I will say this, if the iPhone does go to T'mobile...I'm jumping ship! I just simply prefer t-mobile over all the rest. The only thing that would stop me is the worry of not knowing how their data speeds could hold up.

I'd be a bit more worried about their coverage than data speed. Although it seems T-Mobile has been building their infrastructure in the right direction.

Regards.

I've had the best coverage out of any provider with tmobile...where I live.