I'll get an iPhone if TMobile is a carrier for them. Their plans are more reasonable; I get 1K minutes voice and unlimited data for $70+change, partly due to their explicit offering of lower pricing (20/mo less I think) and no contract lock-in if you pay full retail for the phone. Cheaper over 2 years compared to lower phone price + plan lock-in.
Service has been adequate; an occasional web glitch but OK, better than AT&T is doing in San Francisco. Also, they're just less... annoying than another carrier I switched from last year (Sprint) who would pester me with simpering lame marketing calls. TMobile has yet to do that to me, and everything else has worked fine (support website, online bill payments, etc).
So yeah, I'll be really happy if this happens. I'll even pay full retail for an iPhone, just so I can have the privilege of leaving when I desire, and lower plan rates. A corollary here is that if they *only* offer contract lock-in and higher rates than my Android unlimited data plan, then I'll happily stick with my current phone/plan.
Interesting analysis, but what the hell is up with the mouth-breather comments below?
Hell, I'm an ex-Marine, with considerable Vietnam combat experience. Guys like this scare the living crud out of me.
I do believe Radio shack is in trouble, but I don't see Kia going anywhere. Price points, people. Price points. That and not every country they export to has the same standard of living as the US. (Yeah, I know. Some are much higher).
The prices above with the $100/month for 1 and $180/month for two is only if you get a subsidized phone and sign a two year contract.
If you already have your own phones then you go with the NO CONTRACT plan which is $80/month for 1 line and $140/month for 2 lines.
If you sign the contract, then you're paying $480 extra for the life of the contract.. plus $20 more per line if you keep the same plan after your contract ends. With the contract, you're basically paying for the phone itself every month plus $80+ in interest over 2+ years. (20% interest if you know what I mean....) You'd be better off getting the phone with our credit card and NOT sign a contract... their interest rate is much lower.
If you don't sign the contract and pay the full retail price for the iphone, you're basically paying for price of the phone upfront and pay no interest... unless you use a credit card.. which will definitely be less than 20% interest unless you go into default. Save your money... use a credit card to get your phone or just pay cash!
Another reason why their customers love T-Mobile. They do lots of innovative things like this. I have a 'My Faves' plan with unlimited calling to five numbers + 300 regular minutes for $40 a month. Doesn't work for everyone but it works great for me. T-Mobile was also first I believe with their @Home plan which gives you unlimited calls routed over WiFi for $10 a month.
My family and my two jailbroken and unlocked iPhones are on Tmobile right now. Depending upon who you ask and who replies, they either outright allow the iPhone on at dumbphone rates, or know people are doing it and don't care when you tell them it is a different phone because it only pulls data at the 2G rate of speed but either way, for now many people are putting iPhones on Tmobile for $10 a month in data.
The other point is that Tmobile is the only large cell provider right now that offers non-subsidized rates for plans, phone financing separate from your plan and family plans.
I don't like being under a contract and I have a family of four. Right now we get two iPhones and two kid phones with 1500 minutes, unlimited texting and the two iPhones have 2G data for $110 a month. As long as Tmobile is smart enough to officially endorse a cheaper data plan for iPhones that can't utilize their 3G, then I'm sure plenty of iPhone users will still cross over to save money and because so many of them supposedly use so little on AT&T.
So given the fact that Verizon does sell some GSM capable phones, why would it be any harder to make an iPhone for Verizon compared to T-Mobile? It's just the frequency, right? That is a perfectly reasonable question to ask. And if there are other underlying reasons, like does Verizon have any GSM towers, the article certainly did not address them. So there is no reason for you to get all bent out of shape with your snotty insulting comments.
The GSM capable phones they sell use CDMA when in the US, and are CAPABLE of using GSM to connect to FOREIGN GSM networks when the owner travels. They can not be used on GSM within the USA on a Verizon GSM network that does not exist. The fact that Verizon does not have a GSM network is very very well known and it is reasonable for the author to assume anyone following the conversation should know that by now.
As for the comment from others about T-Mobile switching frequencies...YEAH RIGHT! You need an FCC license for the frequency spectrum you want to use in every market you want to have a tower. To get a reasonable band that covers most of the US costs several billion USD, up to maybe $10-15 billion today. And that is only if someone is willing to sell. The usable standard frequencies are owned by Verizon and AT&T or have not been made available for cellular use by the FCC. No one is selling, which makes it real hard for T-Mobile to buy.
Unlike T-Mobile's network, which uses the same technology but operates on a different frequency, Verizon is a completely different technology, which would require a more drastic redesign of the iPhone.
Except for the future of Verizon, which is LTE and is the evolution of the iPhones 3G system. But Verizon's LTE won't cover all their ground until 2013. Major cities WILL have good coverage much sooner.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sheff
Whatever, forget the 3G [on T-mobile] for now. I will use wifi and edge in the meantime, as long as ATT has a competitor that carries the iPhone. Since verizon is going to GSM 4G this year I can finally accept rumors of a Verizon iPhone next year. Until then let's at least have T-Mo as an option.
Early 2007 'rumours' said that Apple had been looking at being an MVNO - so you had a contract with Apple instead of AT&T, and the iPhone would connect to any network Apple had a deal with. This idea had fallen through.
I have to wonder whether Apple could negotiate a special plan pairing Verizon LTE with T-mobile 2G.
Quote:
Originally Posted by coolcat
You are all high..... If you think Apple is gonna waste their time coming up with a "new" iPhone to run on T-Mobiles' piss ass little network. WHY? there is no money to gain. Verizon is where it's at. 80+Million? Plus all the defectors from AT&T? Second largest carrier in the US? Why the hell would they go with T-Mobile. We all know what a greedy bitch Jobs is...he's all about the money...
Verizon is on CDMA. That's a big difference.
Still, perhaps Apple will find an LTE chip with greater capabilities for the next iPhone. Perhaps CDMA will be more easily supported, given the number of providers moving from CDMA to LTE now.
It's even possible that an LTE chip could integrate the BASIC cdma 2G service (with minimal data) much more easily, thus offering high speed LTE with a fall back to very low speed CDMA when out of range. The equivalent of LTE to 2G GSM fall back, bypassing 3G entirely.
If the iPhone comes to T-Mobile, I will be buying one. Reasons:
1. T-Mobile has 3G where I live, AT&T doesn't.
2. T-Mobile has the cheapest rates out of the US carriers, and gives you the option of even cheaper rates in exchange for not subsidizing the phone. Even if it's not the right option for you, I appreciate the option.
3. T-Mobile let's you buy smart phones with a data plan only. You are not forced to buy voice/text from them as well. Again, that may not be right for everyone but I appreciate the option.
4. T-Mobile is by far the most aggressive in rolling out HSPA+, which basically gives you 4G speeds on the entire 3G network.
5. For $20/month unsubsidized ($30/subsidized) when added to a voice plan, they give you 5Gb of data. Plus unlimited free overage at reduced speed. Again, very upfront and honest. I appreciate that.
This is only the hundredth rumor about the iPhone switching carriers! Sure, all the others have been wrong, and the iPhone very definitively did NOT go to Verizon, but THIS one will be true.
Forgive my sarcasm... it's just a little hard to believe that this is true when every other rumor has proven false, and we know that AT&T has a deal with Apple until 2012.
If you think Apple is gonna waste their time coming up with a "new" iPhone to run on T-Mobiles' piss ass little network. WHY? there is no money to gain. Verizon is where it's at. 80+Million? Plus all the defectors from AT&T? Second largest carrier in the US? Why the hell would they go with T-Mobile. We all know what a greedy bitch Jobs is...he's all about the money...
Jobs is not a "greedy bitch"; he is simply a business man. Like all business men, he wants (needs, if he wants to have ANY money) to sell his products.
Comments
Service has been adequate; an occasional web glitch but OK, better than AT&T is doing in San Francisco. Also, they're just less... annoying than another carrier I switched from last year (Sprint) who would pester me with simpering lame marketing calls. TMobile has yet to do that to me, and everything else has worked fine (support website, online bill payments, etc).
So yeah, I'll be really happy if this happens. I'll even pay full retail for an iPhone, just so I can have the privilege of leaving when I desire, and lower plan rates. A corollary here is that if they *only* offer contract lock-in and higher rates than my Android unlimited data plan, then I'll happily stick with my current phone/plan.
Interesting analysis, but what the hell is up with the mouth-breather comments below?
Hell, I'm an ex-Marine, with considerable Vietnam combat experience. Guys like this scare the living crud out of me.
I do believe Radio shack is in trouble, but I don't see Kia going anywhere. Price points, people. Price points. That and not every country they export to has the same standard of living as the US. (Yeah, I know. Some are much higher).
Until Verizon gets their LTE network rolled out, what's the point for Apple to move?
I can think of 92.8 million reasons.
The prices above with the $100/month for 1 and $180/month for two is only if you get a subsidized phone and sign a two year contract.
If you already have your own phones then you go with the NO CONTRACT plan which is $80/month for 1 line and $140/month for 2 lines.
If you sign the contract, then you're paying $480 extra for the life of the contract.. plus $20 more per line if you keep the same plan after your contract ends. With the contract, you're basically paying for the phone itself every month plus $80+ in interest over 2+ years. (20% interest if you know what I mean....) You'd be better off getting the phone with our credit card and NOT sign a contract... their interest rate is much lower.
If you don't sign the contract and pay the full retail price for the iphone, you're basically paying for price of the phone upfront and pay no interest... unless you use a credit card.. which will definitely be less than 20% interest unless you go into default. Save your money... use a credit card to get your phone or just pay cash!
Another reason why their customers love T-Mobile. They do lots of innovative things like this. I have a 'My Faves' plan with unlimited calling to five numbers + 300 regular minutes for $40 a month. Doesn't work for everyone but it works great for me. T-Mobile was also first I believe with their @Home plan which gives you unlimited calls routed over WiFi for $10 a month.
The other point is that Tmobile is the only large cell provider right now that offers non-subsidized rates for plans, phone financing separate from your plan and family plans.
I don't like being under a contract and I have a family of four. Right now we get two iPhones and two kid phones with 1500 minutes, unlimited texting and the two iPhones have 2G data for $110 a month. As long as Tmobile is smart enough to officially endorse a cheaper data plan for iPhones that can't utilize their 3G, then I'm sure plenty of iPhone users will still cross over to save money and because so many of them supposedly use so little on AT&T.
So given the fact that Verizon does sell some GSM capable phones, why would it be any harder to make an iPhone for Verizon compared to T-Mobile? It's just the frequency, right? That is a perfectly reasonable question to ask. And if there are other underlying reasons, like does Verizon have any GSM towers, the article certainly did not address them. So there is no reason for you to get all bent out of shape with your snotty insulting comments.
The GSM capable phones they sell use CDMA when in the US, and are CAPABLE of using GSM to connect to FOREIGN GSM networks when the owner travels. They can not be used on GSM within the USA on a Verizon GSM network that does not exist. The fact that Verizon does not have a GSM network is very very well known and it is reasonable for the author to assume anyone following the conversation should know that by now.
As for the comment from others about T-Mobile switching frequencies...YEAH RIGHT! You need an FCC license for the frequency spectrum you want to use in every market you want to have a tower. To get a reasonable band that covers most of the US costs several billion USD, up to maybe $10-15 billion today. And that is only if someone is willing to sell. The usable standard frequencies are owned by Verizon and AT&T or have not been made available for cellular use by the FCC. No one is selling, which makes it real hard for T-Mobile to buy.
Unlike T-Mobile's network, which uses the same technology but operates on a different frequency, Verizon is a completely different technology, which would require a more drastic redesign of the iPhone.
Except for the future of Verizon, which is LTE and is the evolution of the iPhones 3G system. But Verizon's LTE won't cover all their ground until 2013. Major cities WILL have good coverage much sooner.
Whatever, forget the 3G [on T-mobile] for now. I will use wifi and edge in the meantime, as long as ATT has a competitor that carries the iPhone. Since verizon is going to GSM 4G this year I can finally accept rumors of a Verizon iPhone next year. Until then let's at least have T-Mo as an option.
Early 2007 'rumours' said that Apple had been looking at being an MVNO - so you had a contract with Apple instead of AT&T, and the iPhone would connect to any network Apple had a deal with. This idea had fallen through.
I have to wonder whether Apple could negotiate a special plan pairing Verizon LTE with T-mobile 2G.
You are all high..... If you think Apple is gonna waste their time coming up with a "new" iPhone to run on T-Mobiles' piss ass little network. WHY? there is no money to gain. Verizon is where it's at. 80+Million? Plus all the defectors from AT&T? Second largest carrier in the US? Why the hell would they go with T-Mobile. We all know what a greedy bitch Jobs is...he's all about the money...
Verizon is on CDMA. That's a big difference.
Still, perhaps Apple will find an LTE chip with greater capabilities for the next iPhone. Perhaps CDMA will be more easily supported, given the number of providers moving from CDMA to LTE now.
It's even possible that an LTE chip could integrate the BASIC cdma 2G service (with minimal data) much more easily, thus offering high speed LTE with a fall back to very low speed CDMA when out of range. The equivalent of LTE to 2G GSM fall back, bypassing 3G entirely.
1. T-Mobile has 3G where I live, AT&T doesn't.
2. T-Mobile has the cheapest rates out of the US carriers, and gives you the option of even cheaper rates in exchange for not subsidizing the phone. Even if it's not the right option for you, I appreciate the option.
3. T-Mobile let's you buy smart phones with a data plan only. You are not forced to buy voice/text from them as well. Again, that may not be right for everyone but I appreciate the option.
4. T-Mobile is by far the most aggressive in rolling out HSPA+, which basically gives you 4G speeds on the entire 3G network.
5. For $20/month unsubsidized ($30/subsidized) when added to a voice plan, they give you 5Gb of data. Plus unlimited free overage at reduced speed. Again, very upfront and honest. I appreciate that.
Forgive my sarcasm... it's just a little hard to believe that this is true when every other rumor has proven false, and we know that AT&T has a deal with Apple until 2012.
If you think Apple is gonna waste their time coming up with a "new" iPhone to run on T-Mobiles' piss ass little network. WHY? there is no money to gain. Verizon is where it's at. 80+Million? Plus all the defectors from AT&T? Second largest carrier in the US? Why the hell would they go with T-Mobile. We all know what a greedy bitch Jobs is...he's all about the money...
Jobs is not a "greedy bitch"; he is simply a business man. Like all business men, he wants (needs, if he wants to have ANY money) to sell his products.
You're sounding a lot like an illiterate troll.