U.S. Cellular rejected Apple and the iPhone 4S

By Mike Flacy November 4, 2011

iphone-4s-missing — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Reported in a third quarter earnings call this week, U.S. Cellular CEO Mary Dillon told investors that the company turned down Apple when approached in regards to offering models of the iPhone to U.S. Cellular customers. While Dillon indicated that the U.S. Cellular network was definitely capable of handling the expanded traffic from sales of a new iPhone, Apple’s offer was rejected due to terms that were “unacceptable from a risk and profitability standpoint.” This indicates that Apple may have wanted a large order placed as well as an upfront payment from the cellular company. Apple may have also stipulated a set of conditions around distribution and in-store placement of the iPhones that was unacceptable to U.S. Cellular.

While U.S. Cellular currently has about six million customers without access to the iPhone, the company certainly isn’t the largest cellular provider without Apple’s popular device. The 34 million subscribers at T-Mobile also don’t have access yet, specifically because Apple hasn’t developed a version of the phone that’s compatible with T-Mobile’s service. While T-Mobile phones certainly operate at 3G and 4G speeds, the 3G service operates on the AWS frequency band which is incompatible with various models of the iPhone. Apple did sign a new agreement with regional cellular provider C Spire which provides approximately 900,000 subscribers with access to the iPhone 4 and 4S starting next Friday.

In addition to the news about the rejection of Apple’s offer, Dillon mentioned that the launch of the LTE network was being delayed until early 2012. Previously, the company had planned to offer LTE access during the fourth quarter of 2011. The initial launch of the LTE network will take place in states such as North Carolina, Iowa, Oklahoma, Maine, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin. Plans regarding the launch in additional markets will be announced throughout the year.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor

By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…

Mobile

iPhone SE deals: Refurbished 2nd and 3rd Gen iPhones

apple iphone se 2020 news new black camera and touch id 04152020

Apple’s iPhone is one of the most popular phones on the planet, and whatever its current model happens to be almost always ranks among the best phones. This makes the iPhone an expensive purchase, which is where the iPhone SE comes in. Apple launched the iPhone SE in order to make an iPhone affordable to more people. The SE utilizes technology that’s a generation or two old and will often take the form factor of a previous iPhone model. Right now the it's a great phone to turn to for even more savings. There are some iPhone SE deals to take a look at out there, and while it’s difficult to find newer iPhone SE models, you can shop refurbished knowing the big retailers are likely backing the purchase with warranties and solid return windows. So whether you’re looking for some great iPhone deals or phone deals in general, below you’ll find the best iPhone SE deals to shop right now.
iPhone SE 2nd Gen deals

The second generation of the iPhone SE was initially launched in 2020, but it still manages to keep up with the needs of many phone users today. It utilizes the body of the Apple iPhone 8, which means it will have a home button and fingerprint ID instead of the Face ID technology in current iPhone models. That’s not much to give up, however, as the second generation iPhone SE still has a great display, a 12-megapixel camera with the ability to shoot 4K video, and wireless charging capability.

Mobile

Best refurbished iPhone deals: Get an iPhone 14 for $513

An iPhone 13 in white color option.

The Apple iPhone is one of the best phones on the market, and because of it they don’t often come cheap. There are some great iPhone deals out there, but it’s rare to find significant discounts on newer models without having to commit to a longterm contract with a carrier, and it’s even less frequent you come across one of the best iPhones with a major price drop. This is where shopping refurbished can come in handy. Refurbished iPhones — for the most part — will come backed with a functionality guarantee or extended return window, making refurbished iPhones as safe of a purchase as shopping new. There are a lot of refurbished iPhone models seeing great price drops right now, which is why we’ve done the heavy lifting of rounding up all of the best refurbished iPhone deals. You’ll find them below, as well as some information on which refurbished iPhone might be best for you.
iPhone XR -- from $136

A refurbished model but one that's unlocked and comes with a full one-year warranty, the Apple iPhone XR is still pretty stylish for its age. It has a large 6.1-inch LCD screen with 1,792 x 828 resolution with Liquid Retina technology ensuring it looks super sharp. Powered by the A12 Bionic chip, it's starting to show its age but still has potential. There's also a 12MP back camera that can shoot 4K videos while the front-facing camera is 7MP and ideal for selfie-taking.

Mobile

Nomad’s new iPhone case and Apple Watch band may be its coolest yet

Nomad Glow 2.0 Sport Case and Apple Watch Sport Band in daylight.

Though the world of Apple accessories is a dime a dozen, one of the better brands that you can buy is Nomad. Nomad has a variety of amazing leather Apple Watch bands and cases, as well as non-leather options, too. In August 2023, Nomad released a one-of-a-kind Glow in the Dark Apple Watch band that sold out in about 12 hours.

Since that Glow in the Dark band was a limited edition, no one was sure if Nomad was going to re-release it, and this explains the high resale prices you’ll find on eBay. But Nomad just released the Glow 2.0 Apple Watch Sport Band as well as a new Glow 2.0 Sport Case for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. And, yes, they're just as wonderful as before.
The new and improved Glow 2.0