Even though T-Mobile recently said they couldn’t afford the iPhone, It appears they may have sold Carly’s old dresses off to a consignment store and made enough to swing a deal with Apple, as Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig is claiming the carrier may be preparing to announce that it will begin offering the iPhone.
The claim does not, however, appear to be based on any specific information, as Craig simply notes that “speculation is heightening” about such a move.
Craig says that “speculation is heightening” that Deutsche Telecom (DT) will announce a deal to bring the iPhone to its U.S. subsidiary at next week’s analysts day (December 6 -7).
While it is merely conjecture on Craig’s part, it does make a bit of sense. T-Mobile recently expanded its iPhone-compatible HSPA+ network to 10 more metropolitan areas. Finally allowing some of the 1.5 million T-Mobile customers already using unlocked iPhones to get download speeds better than the GSM speeds they were stuck with previously.
T-Mobile has previously announced that their network would be ready for the iPhone by the end of 2012. The carrier has also acknowledged in the past that their lack of the iPhone has cost it customers, and therefore, revenue.
Again, this is merely a rumor at this point, but there are some indicators pointing toward this as happening for T-Mobile. T-Mobile may have said they couldn’t afford to offer the iPhone, but they may have decided they can’t afford NOT to offer the iPhone.
MacTrast will keep track of any developments, and will let you know if this story moves form the realm of rumor, into reality.
