Today T-Mobile announced the arrival of the iPhone5 through their service at the UnCarrier media event. Last month, the carrier announced plans to offer the current Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) phone. This will be the first time T-Mobile sells the iPhone.
It was also previously reported that the new smartphone was supposed to launch for T-Mobile last January as a deal was confirmed between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and the carrier a month before.
T-Mobile also shared a recent press release for their plans for future investments. The company indicated, “Around €6 billion is earmarked for rolling out the broadband infrastructure in the German fixed network with optical fiber and vectoring between 2013 and 2020. In addition, T-Mobile USA has entered into an agreement with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to bring products to market together in 2013.”
T-Mobile’s chief executive officer/president John Legere made the announcement. He claimed that it’s a big day for iPhone users who want to switch carriers. He also added that T-Mobile is essentially “rewriting the rules on wireless” to give them a better iPhone experience on a very powerful network. In the end, Legere summed it up with, “T-Mobile will be the only carrier to offer the iPhone5 without a contract … on a screaming 4G LTE network.”
T-Mobile’s decision to go contract-free is a risky move. On one hand, it’s a smart move to try a new approach to attract customers, many of which would prefer a contract-free service. Unfortunately, they also got a lot of competition with companies who have been in the contract-free game a lot longer like Cricket Communications and Virgin Mobile.
It’s also important to point out that the company is already struggling and there is no way to predict whether a contract-free service will turn them around. One smart move T-Mobile is making is adding the iPhone5 to their store, however it may be too late. Hopefully, the new approach and smartphone will work in their favor.
