T-Mobile iPhone and LTE to Launch This Spring

John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, announces that in three to four months a magenta-branded iPhone will be added to the roster of mobile devices on the carrier’s shelves. Considering T-Mobile’s speedy network rollout, that timing will place the mobile phones alongside the carrier’s LTE launch.

“They’re all, I would call them, in three to four months as opposed to six to nine months,” said T-Mobile CEO John Legere, in an interview with Reuters during Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013 in Las Vegas. He did not disclose details about T-Mobile’s agreement with Apple, Inc. However, Legere confirmed that T-Mobile would implement its plan of eliminating cellphone subsidies around the same timeframe as the iPhone and LTE launch.

Legere did not delve on the specifics on which Apple device the T-Mobile would market, but it looks like spring would put the carrier in line to sell the latest iPhone 5 four or five months ahead of the likely smartphone update this fall. There is also a chance that T-Mobile would be selling the cheap iPhone version that is supposedly in the works by Apple.

T-Mobile almost certainly would not have to market the iPhone as a basic 3G device like many small U.S. carriers and international operators are limited to do. Neville Ray, CTO of T-Mobile, said at the CES event that he would have a significant part of the LTE network live by mid-2013. And since T-Mobile has been hastily doing its HSPA+ network upgrade, the carrier will definitely be capable of supporting the connectivity capabilities associated with iPhone 5 by launch date. And this is not a small feat for a carrier which, just six months ago, had nothing more than a 2G network signal for its iPhone.

Initially, T-Mobile set the second half of 2013 as the launch period of its LTE, making it the last U.S. carrier to set out the latest-generation mobile broadband technology. 

The iPhone is not the only mobile device aided by T-Mobile’s rush to implement its LTE plans. The Verge reported that T-Mobile would soon offer an LTE version of Samsung Galaxy S III.

Aside from the LTE and iPhone announcements, other updates by T-Mobile during CES included details pertinent to the carrier’s service plans and technology.

One, T-Mobile is set to offer contract-free unlimited smartphone plans. T-Mobile’s move away from unsubsidized smartphone plans – where customers pay for their devices in full, buy them in installments, or use their own phones – could change the way U.S. carriers strategize their pricing.

Two, the carrier also touted that its network is now compatible with high-definition voice. However, according to Sascha Segan of PC Mag, HD calls would only work between T-Mobile devices sporting an HD client.

Three, to push for other devices aside from smartphones into T-Mobile’s network, the carrier is offering a no-contract 200MB of free data allowance every month for two years on certain Windows 8 laptops.

And four, T-Mobile upgraded its HSPA+ network in order to support iPhone frequencies in Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Virginia Beach. The network reconfiguration is now completely carried out in 46 cities, covering around 126 million users. At this accelerated pace of network refarming, T-Mobile would be able to provide support for the iPhone’s data capabilities by launch date. (KOM) Link