No hope for a T-Mobile iPhone, despite AT&T deal

If you were hoping that AT&T's planned acquisition of T-Mobile means T-Mobile subscribers can expect an iPhone soon, the answer is no. That answer comes straight from T-Mobile, as well.

The companies involved, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, and T-Mobile USA expect the acquisition to complete in about 12 months, assuming regulatory approval. If that seems like a long time, it is, but considering that there will probably be regulatory hurdles because of the magnitude of the purchase, that's probably a good estimate.

T-Mobile has commented, officially (in an FAQ), as follows:

"T-Mobile USA remains an independent company. The acquisition is expected to be completed in approximately 12 months. We do not offer the iPhone. We offer cutting edge devices like the Samsung Galaxy S 4G and coming soon our new Sidekick 4G."

With the deal still a year out, this all makes sense. The reason is that the 3G frequencies on AT&T and T-Mobile differ. If Apple wanted to produce a T-Mobile version of the iPhone, it would require another change to the iPhone, not quite as radical as GSM to CDMA (AT&T to Verizon), but it would require another change.

Additionally, the next iteration of the iPhone, per its annual refresh cycle, is in only a few months. After that, it would be an additional year, and by then the AT&T - T-Mobile USA deal and infrastructure changes "should" be all fleshed out.

Via: Engadget, T-Mobile