With AT&T and T-Mobile now getting all chummy with yesterday purchase announcement, this was inevitable. T-Mobile customers are looking at their soon-to-be new wireless provider and salivating over the delicious morsel of all-in-one mobile functionality that is Apple’s iPhone. Originally exclusive to AT&T and now available on Verizon as well, the Apple device hasn’t yet made its way to the third- and fourth-place networks. And according T-Mobile, it’s not going to.
The company posted a Q&A yesterday in the wake of the acquisition announcement, a document meant to answer subscriber questions about what to expect from the change in ownership. Remember, the deal isn’t expected to be completely finalized for another 12 months, assuming it isn’t further held up by federal regulatory inquiries.
Under the question heading “Is T-Mobile USA getting the iPhone?” the company wrote: “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.”
This really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. It is some pleasant wishful thinking to hope that yesterday’s news might open the Apple floodgates into T-Mobile’s service, but for the time being the two companies remain apart from one another. There’s no reason for T-Mobile customers to expect the iPhone to be newly available. That all changes in 12 months when they become AT&T customers of course. At which time they’ll still probably hold off on an upgrade in anticipation of the inevitable iPhone 6.
