T-Mobile: 2M iPhones already on; 200,000 added last month
updated 05:43 pm EST, Tue January 8, 2013
Carrier set to become official iPhone partner later this year
Despite not having become an official iPhone carrier yet, T-Mobile USA on Tuesday revealed that it already has nearly two million iPhones on its network as of this month -- an increase of 200,000 users since December 6, when the carrier announced it will finally begin carrying Apple devices later in 2013. Interest in the iPhone has been responsible for an average of 100,000 activations per month, the company says.
T-Mobile has not yet revealed exactly when it will begin carrying the iPhone (and presumably the cellular-enabled iPad models), but it has openly courted owners of unlocked iPhones for years while being the only major US carrier shut out of carrying the hot-selling smartphone. Though CEO John Legere had said previously that the company was "unwilling" to make the investment necessary to carry the iPhone, when the deal was finally announced last month, the company promised to upgrade its network to the LTE frequencies needed to support it.
To that end, T-Mobile also announced Tuesday that its first LTE market will roll out in Las Vegas, home to the CES conference, over the next "two to three weeks," reports AppleInsider. The company already has iPhone-compatible HSPA+ "4G" coverage in a number of communities around the nation that reach a potential audience of 100 million, but announced late last month that it would spend $4 billion to upgrade some 15 other communities to full LTE. Included in the expansion is New York City; Newark, NJ; Cambridge and Springfield MA; Providence, RI; Philadelphia, PA; Detroit and Warren MI; Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth and San Antonio TX; Los Angeles and San Diego CA, and Tampa FL.
