On Monday when Apple [AAPL] announced the iPhone 4 we didn’t hear anything of the device moving to other networks in the US such as Verizon [VZ] or T-Mobile. Although most people assume this is the end of that argument till perhaps next year when iPhone 5 is announced, we still keep hearing that the iPhone 4 (and 3GS) could be heading that way.
The latest rumour comes thanks to a Kaufman Bros analyst called Shaw Wu who says the iPhone 4 could hit T-Mobile in the US this fall.
The reason that Saw Wu says that T-Mobile may be the network of choice for Apple to sell the iPhone 4 on as well as AT&T is that T-Mobile are a GSM network like AT&T and they would be able to roll the iPhone 4 out quicker than say Verizon or Sprint.
The iPhone 4, 3GS and 3 support the 2100MHz band which is compatible with T-Mobile. We personally don’t believe the rumour and if it’s based on the fact that the device is compatible then why wasn’t it on the T-Mobile network a few years ago… perhaps the 5 year AT&T/Apple Exclusivity contract running till 2012 has something to do with it.
Meanwhile, over in the UK all of the 5 big networks have now announced that the iPhone 4 will be sold. We are yet to get any pricing for the device although O2 has revealed tariffs where they have dropped the unlimited data imposing a 500MB to 1GB restriction depending on what price plan you go for. Orange is also rumoured to be dropping unlimited, but no official announcements have been made yet. We do expect some healthy competition for the iPhone 4 UK in terms of price and data allowances though. As soon as we get them we’ll update the site.
Via: Geeky Gadgets
well Matthew, T-mobile wasn’t a choice a few years ago because the government only released 2100mhz spectrum to T-mobile in June 2009. it was supposed to go live in February 2009 but Obama pushed it back a couple of months.
they are thinking about it now because their T-mobile’s advanced 3G is actually faster than at&t and verizon even though those companies have been running their 3G for years. They havent perfected their 3G networks like the Europeans and Asians and now they are all saying they want to go LTE. These guys have no clue.
Sprint is gradually taking their customers. No wonder, End contract fees have been increased dramatically by att and Verizon.
T-Mobile US’s AWS HSDPA+ Band IV cannot run iPhone @ 3G speeds because although it does use the 2100Mhz Band, it also MUST use the 1700Mhz Band in conjunction with it. This is the reason why T-Mobile’s 3G (21MBps) has been able to surpass AT&T’s 3G speeds as well as Sprint’s 4G Wi-Max