T-Mobile still remains the only U.S. carrier not to officially offer Apple’s iPhone, despite the fact that many (over a million, according to their own figures) users run unlocked iPhones on their network. They even offer specific technical support for iPhone users. Today, the carrier announced that they are taking their iPhone game to the next level.
[…] We see a big opportunity to make the experience of bringing an unlocked iPhone to T-Mobile even better for customers.
That’s why, beginning September 12th, we’re stepping up our efforts to attract customers with unlocked iPhones to T-Mobile. Each of our branded retail stores will receive an iPhone 4s demo unit and our sales staff will start training to help customers set up their compatible iPhone. We’re also developing iOS versions of helpful T-Mobile applications likeT-Mobile myAccount, T-Mobile Visual Voicemail and T-Mobile TV (we already offer an iOS version of our popularBobsled application).
In addition to the increased iPhone support, the carrier also revealed an agressive marketing strategy to attract more unlocked iPhone users to their network, by claiming that users can save up to $50 per month by choosing their network over AT&T.
T-Mobile has been rolling out improved iPhone-compatible 3G/4G data support for quite a while now – they even placed an iPhone-compatible 3G node at Apple’s WWDC conference this year. They also recently brought back unlimited data plans to make their network seem more appealing than other networks.
The disadvantage, of course, is that users will have to purchase an iPhone unlocked from Apple at a higher price (unlocked iPhone 4S models start at $649), which discourages some users from moving to T-Mobile, and instead purchasing discounted iPhones from Apple’s official partners.