This is interesting. Even though it claimed it couldn’t afford the iPhone due to Apple’s stringent terms of business and the billions required in upfront subsidy, Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile USA, the nation’s fourth-largest, has confirmed an agreement to start carrying some mobile products from Apple beginning with next year.
Though the carrier did not specifically confirm the long-expected iPhone distribution agreement, this development is the best indication yet that T-Mobile USA stands poised to finally land the iconic Apple smartphone and tablet on its network in 2013…
Writing for AllThingsD, Ina Fried points us to a press release with Deutsche Telekom’s Rene Obermann announcing the Apple/T-Mobile partnership made to analysts earlier today.
“T-Mobile USA has entered into an agreement with Apple to bring products to market together next year,” Deutsche Telekom said in a press statement on Thursday.
A spokesperson additionally told The Loop that “additional details will be made available at a later date”.
T-Mobile USA offers some nice and free support to unlockers, it sells Nano SIMs and already hosts about 1.5 million unlocked iPhones. Additionally, the carrier’s been rolling out its iPhone-friendly HSPA+ network to more and more places in the United States.
Upgrading its towers to the 1900 MHz GSM band, the same radio frequency used by AT&T and compatible with existing iPhone models, benefits owners of unlocked iPhones who can at last enjoy 3G/4G download speeds on the T-Mobile network.
And as T-Mobile transitions to an iPhone-friendly service and begins a nationwide transition to LTE following last year’s failed acquisition by AT&T, only now does an Apple partnership make sense as the T-Mobile network is becoming fully compatible with Apple’s 3G/4G mobile devices.
Analyst were previously calling for a deal with Apple in 2013, with Merrill Lynch’s Scott Craig warning recently that “speculation is heightening” around Deutsche Telecom announcing the iPhone deal this week.
Is a T-Mobile iPhone really gonna become a reality in 2013?
And, can it change market dynamics concerning Android?