I’m sure everyone knows that over in the good old US of A T-mobile USA doesn’t currently offer the iPhone, but that is soon to change as the carrier has struck a deal with Apple to finally bring their iOS smartphone to their customers. T-Mobile did say late last year that the iPhone would be coming to their network, but the word is it will arriver sooner than later.
According to a report by Reuters, Deutsche Telekom chief exec John Legere has stated that T-Mobile USA will be offering the iPhone in roughly three to four months time to coincide with the carrier’s plan to eliminate handset subsidies.
Legere wouldn’t elaborate on the details of their agreement with Apple, but whilst at CES 2013 in Las Vegas did say that their iOS smartphone and subsidy elimination is coming in 3 to 4 months rather than 6 to 9 months time.
T-Mobile USA’s plan to get rid of handset subsidies this year is to offer customers better flexibility along with lower service prices, whilst the carrier hopes to attract customers from rivals Verizon and AT&T by combining removing subsidies and offering the iPhone that will be a first for the US wireless industry.
Legere also stated that he could possibly up the carrier’s market share by five percent or more from larger rivals that still rely on subsidising handsets giving the customer a discount for committing to a two-year agreement, and remarked that if the old industry infrastructure ignores what the carrier is doing that is a potential.
T-Mobile is currently trying to gain regulatory approval for their merger with MetroPCS, the exec has said that it might not stop there, and he might explore a partnership with Dish Network Corp or possibly with Leap Wireless International Inc.
Analysts have previously said that Leap and MetroPCS networks would go well together, whilst they have also remarked that they see T-Mobile USA or Sprint Nextel Corp as the most likely to partner Dish.
As for Leap, Legere has said that the smaller rival is one of those things that makes sense for them to look at, and although he isn’t in any talks with Dish at the moment, when he was asked if he would consider a partnership with Dish, he said yes.
T-Mobile iPhone 2013 and killing off subsidies.
Well now, it was only a matter of time until we saw Apple gear come to T-Mobile, and the word is the iPhone along with other Apple gear will finally be offered by T-Mobile next year. Apparently T-Mobile and Apple have now entered an agreement that will see the carrier selling Apple products in early 2013, although unsubsidised.
A report over on Gigaom has it that John Legere, the CEO of T-Mobile USA has confirmed that the carrier will offer the iPhone in 2013, but the carrier will also be moving completely away from subsidising all devices next year.
Killing off subsidies will of course mean that if you wish to purchase a device from T-Mobile, the customer will be required to shell out the full price for the device upfront, bring in their own unlocked device, or purchase a device on T-Mobile’s instalment plan.
In 2013 T-Mobile will move entirely to their unsubsidised Value plans that offer the customer cheaper rates for voice and certain data. The carrier says that 80% of their activations last quarter were value plans, and as such they believe there is a big demand for this type of model.
However, when it comes to the iPhone 5, the smartphone commands a hefty unlocked and unsubsidised price tag of between $650 and $850 depending on version, and one of the reasons the iOS smartphone is popular is that operators offer devices with big subsidies bringing the upfront price down to as low as $200.
This means that T-Mobile will need to convince potential customers that shelling out the full price upfront for a device, and using their lower value plan rate will actually save them cash over the two-year contract term.
However, it appears that T-Mobile has a unique and cunning plan of action when it comes to offering the iPhone, with the CEO implying that they will possibly heavily finance the iOS smartphone by selling the device for $99 and then charge $15 to $20 per month in fees over a 20 month period, which basically still sounds to the customer like they are subsidising the device.
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