T-Mobile denies dropping iPhone from unlocking campaign
updated 01:12 pm EDT, Wed October 10, 2012
Carrier says it has 'stepped up' efforts
T-Mobile USA is denying claims that it plans to drop the iPhone from its "Unlimited and Unlocked" campaign, a spokesperson tells 9to5Mac. Yesterday TmoNews reported that T-Mobile had issued an internal memo warning workers to no longer refer to Apple or the iPhone as a part of Unlimited & Unlocked marketing. The document also allegedly mentioned that "BYOi [Bring Your Own iPhone] Program focus will change to BYOD [Bring Your Own Device]," although "iPhone Demo Devices should continue to be used for training and customer demonstration purposes."
"T-Mobile’s planned efforts have not changed," the spokesperson says. "As noted in T-Mobile’s September 10th blog...T-Mobile has stepped up its Bring your own device efforts -- which include unlocked iPhones. These efforts began in September and will continue as planned this fall."
T-Mobile is believed to have over 1 million iPhone owners on its network, despite not being an Apple partner, and the potential hurdles of unlocking the hardware. Using T-Mobile also means being limited to 2G and Wi-Fi data, since the company only recently started buiding out a 1,900MHz 4G network compatible with the iPhone. New York City, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Washington represent initial coverage areas.
