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A big mobile network just got bigger.
By now, you’ve read the reports of the blockbuster acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T. This deal, worth a cool $39 billion, unites AT&T, the largest mobile network in the U.S. with the fourth largest, adding some cushion between themselves and Verizon. Everyone knows that AT&T was the sole proprietor of the iPhone’s network up until early this year, when Verizon was brought on as a vendor as well. Now, with this acquisition, smartphone users over at T-Mobile are excited about the prospect of having the iPhone 5 on their menu for this summer.
Not so fast, says the T-Mobile execs.
According to Mashable and other reliable tech news sources, T-Mobile was quick to get out in front of the iphone 4 and iPhone 5 issue, stating in no uncertain terms, “T-Mobile USA remains an independent company. The acquisition is expected to be completed in approximately 12 months. We do not offer the iPhone. We offer cutting edge devices like the Samsung Galaxy S 4G and coming soon our new Sidekick 4G,”
Truth be told, there is a strangeness to the use of the present tense “do not” instead of a future tense “will not” in that quote above — enough to fuel the iPhone 5 rumor mill for weeks, I’m sure. But my guess, however, is that this clumsy use of verb tense is probably nothing more than T-Mobile’s press team asleep at the wheel.
However, there is hope that, even if the iPhone 5 doesn’t land in T-Mobile’s coffers, a 2012 iPhone offering on T-Mobile is not out of the question.
For now, it seems that this acquisition for AT&T is about building their 4G network. Reports indicate that Verizon is ahead of the game in building 4G coverage nationwide, which means that — if this is in fact true — AT&T might simply be purchasing a leg up in the 4G race, since T-Mobile too has invested copious resources into beefing up their own 4G network. To be sure, there is nothing apparent in the acquisition that makes anyone in the media believe that the iPhone is a centerpiece of the deal.
Mashable’s Stan Schroeder goes on to explain that adding the iPhone 4 or even the iPhone 5 onto T-Mobile’s network will not be a slam dunk:
“Of course, it’s not just a matter of getting regulatory approval and completing the acquisition: AT&T and T-Mobile operate on different 3G bands, and AT&T must cut a new deal with Apple if it wants to transfer the rights to sell the iPhone to another company, even if it owns it.”
The fact that T-Mobile will remain an independent company on its own 3G band makes it more difficult for Apple to work with them by extension. This means that Apple will not have the benefit of seeing all 33 million of T-Mobile’s subscribers pour into the AT&T subscriber pool; Apple will have to work it out technologically and contractually with T-Mobile make the iPhone happen with them.
But even still — it is very doable, and exactly what Apple is looking to do in the future.
we’ve already reported that Sprint could be a dark horse candidate for the iPhone 5. Now that T-Mobile is affiliated with the key mobile network for the iPhone, there’s no doubt that we’ll be seeing more and more iPhone availability across other networks over the next few years.
