T-Mobile USA is the nation’s fourth largest carrier. It is the only major US carrier without Apple’s iPhone. And early next year it should finally get their hands on it, if an analyst with Morgan Stanley is right.
T-Mobile has been putting a lot of effort in courting Apple’s affections lately. They’ve been appeasing to it’s iPhone customers with free support to unlockers, Nano SIMs for iPhone 5 and a broad marketing push to sell Apple users unlimited data plans. They even recently backed off on marketing materials using the iPhone name as not to tread on any good relations they may have built up. But most importantly, they’ve spent the time and resources to overhaul their network’s infrastructure.
They’ve opened up their 3G and HSPA+ speed networks in a number of major metropolitan markets such as Las Vegas, Seattle, Washington DC and New York. Next year T-Mobile plans to roll out their 4G LTE coverage making them even more appealing and more importantly compatible to Apple’s iPhone 5.
According to Morgan Stanley analyst Nick Delfas, the deal could provide Apple with another one to two million buyers of the iPhone 5 in the first quarter. Additionally, T-Mobile announced earlier this month that they were merging with MetroPCS, the provider right behind them in rankings. They’ve also been building their LTE network. Neville Ray, T-Mobile’s Chief Technology Officer, says that he thinks the merger will help boost the reach of LTE to its customers.
[via CNET]