C Spire to be first regional carrier with iPhone 4S
updated 11:05 am EDT, Wed October 19, 2011
C Spire confirms iPhone 4S deal
C Spire, once known as Cellular South, confirmed Wednesday that it would be getting the iPhone 4S. The American CDMA carrier plans to carry at least the flagship of Apple's line sometime in the "coming weeks." Prices are presumed to be the same $199 to $399 on contract for 16GB to 64GB.
The provider is the first US regional carrier to get an iPhone deal and points to Apple now catering to every network that wants the hardware in the US, not just major national providers. Many of these carriers have had to go to Android for their main smartphone lines and often get outdated or limited models, making the fully up to date iPhone more important to them than at majors.
A handful of majors still don't have iPhone deals, but these are most likely due to technical and conscious rejections rather than Apple. T-Mobile won't have one this year and is likely hurt both by its need for the 1,700MHz 3G band the iPhone doesn't support as well as a possible AT&T takeover that would negate the need for a T-Mobile model. Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile are also unlikely to get it in the near future as their parent company, Sprint, will want to drive users to its much more lucrative plans.
