AfterDawn: News

T-Mobile: Having iPhone not worth all the sacrifices

Adding the iPhone to their device portfolio would force the carrier to make major sacrifices, says a T-Mobile executive.

Having the iPhone would likely lead to a decent boost in customers for the struggling carrier, which offers the best prices on monthly plans.



"Make no mistake about it: We would love to carry the iPhone. However, we want the economies to be right for us," added Jim Alling, COO of T-Mobile USA (via FW).

MetroPCS, the carrier T-Mobile USA is merging with, had similar comments on the smartphone, with COO Tom Keys saying: "It would be harmful to MetroPCS to have to cut out part of our handset portfolio to accommodate one phone from one provider that the economics could be at risk."

Alling also noted that T-Mobile certainly did not want to make a deal like rival Sprint recently made. The company signed a four-year, $15.5 billion deal last year to sell iPhones. Having that contract has put a massive burden on Sprint, who does not expect to see any profit from the Apple device until at least 2015.

The executive does note that not having the iPhone has led to more "churn," and that the new LTE-enabled iPhone 5 has led to a loss of subscribers, as well. T-Mobile is doing its best to bring over unlocked iPhone users, making HSPA+ (4G-esque speeds) available to them in major cities. Currently, there are 1.5 million unlocked iPhone users on the network, says Alling, although a majority can only access 2G speeds while T-Mobile upgrades their network.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Nov 2012 20:58

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• 10 comments

• KillerBug

  If T-Mobile wants customers, maybe they shouldn't be trying so hard to get rid of their customers.
  

  
  

  21.11.2012 22:10 #1

• JST1946

  I've been a T-Mobile customer since 2005 and I could care less about the iPhone.
  

  20 Year U.S.Army Veteran.Vietnam 1969-1972 101st Abn.Div.

  21.11.2012 23:36 #2

• carlvo

  Originally posted by JST1946: I've been a T-Mobile customer since 2005 and I could care less about the iPhone. 2005? Wow! Unbelievable!

  22.11.2012 09:42 #3

• Ronaldo3 (unverified)

  Originally posted by JST1946: I've been a T-Mobile customer since 2005 and I could care less about the iPhone. 100% I agree. I do not care for IPhone.

  22.11.2012 11:17 #4

• Arjun00

  customer since 2000 and they are the best value / price... would not change.

  22.11.2012 13:14 #5

• ChiefBrdy

  I put my S3 next to an iPhone and couldn't believe how tiny the iPhone screen is. What a joke.
  

  "Is that 3 thousand dollar bounty on the shark in cash or check?"
  
  "We can do it the easy way...Or we can do it the REAL easy way."

  23.11.2012 10:14 #6

• TimCook (unverified)

  I've had T-Mobile twice, for about two years each. I just cancelled again two months ago. You get what you pay for!! iPhone aside, T-Mobile has terrible customer service. Coverage is terrible -- drive 5-10 minutes outside a metropolitan area and you don't just lose 4G, you lose 3G too. I was stuck on EDGE way too often for my liking! I can deal with slow speeds, but my complaint is that their EDGE network NEVER WORKED. My phone would sit, spinning its wheels for a while, and then give an error. With limited 3G/4G coverage like theirs, making sure their fallback is dependable should be a major priority! (Funny thing is... these areas where T-Mobile never worked is covered by LTE now that I have Verizon!) Even when I had no service at all, I could never roam. T-Mobile probably didn't want to pay the charges on the customer's behalf... which is a bunch of bull considering they advertise free roaming witht he plans. Any problem I ever had and brought to their attention regarding the network was never addressed. No audio during voice calls, having plenty of bars but unable to use phone, etc... they would always say the SAME thing. They are aware of the problem, they are working to resolve it, and they have no information available. Cannot give an ETA, cannot speak to anyone else, and can't do anything when the issue still wasn't fixed months later. They did replace my phone twice, although they were obviously willing to do that because I had insurance. When someone like Insurion is paying the bill, they are more than happy to help! When I tried to bring my complaints to management's attention to get some sort of resolution, I spoke to "executive account reps" on two occasions... and they were both RUDE as can be! They are basically just as useless as the regular reps you talk to... except they don't have the common courtesy to be polite. One rep refused to help me, and when I said I was considering leaving, he only said "that is your choice." No wonder their subscribers are running like hell in the other direction -- T-Mobile TELLS THEM TO! Try treating your customers better if you want to keep them, T-Mo. You might want to hang on to what you have left... because I'm sure plenty of customers you have driven away share my opinion: I'M NEVER COMING BACK.

  23.11.2012 10:55 #7

• dappy123

  I have been a T-Mobile customer for over 4 years. I just renewed my contract with them in April. I got two Samsung Dart phones and both of them will not SCAN any code. My wife's phone drops a call because it does not go dark when she puts it up to her face. (this is her business phone)
  This is less than half a phone. I plan to go to the local T-M store and shove the two phones up the poor innocent guy behind the counter's ass.. OH no I am not really going to do it. However, what I will do is speak to him and her in a very soft and very respectful tone. As the scene continues, I will gradually raise my voice until I get some reasonable satisfaction. If things don't get resolved in a reasonable way, I will tell them to delete my account and that if they punish me by charging me $200, I will have the local TV station there. I will post this every where I can. I am disabled and have all the time all day to post this everywhere. In addition, I will be writing to the press about this especially every tech site.
  Thanks for allowing me to post this rant on this well known and read tech
  site.
  

  24.11.2012 01:48 #8

• bdaleypsu

  Originally posted by dappy123: I have been a T-Mobile customer for over 4 years. I just renewed my contract with them in April. I got two Samsung Dart phones and both of them will not SCAN any code. My wife's phone drops a call because it does not go dark when she puts it up to her face. (this is her business phone)
  This is less than half a phone. I plan to go to the local T-M store and shove the two phones up the poor innocent guy behind the counter's ass.. OH no I am not really going to do it. However, what I will do is speak to him and her in a very soft and very respectful tone. As the scene continues, I will gradually raise my voice until I get some reasonable satisfaction. If things don't get resolved in a reasonable way, I will tell them to delete my account and that if they punish me by charging me $200, I will have the local TV station there. I will post this every where I can. I am disabled and have all the time all day to post this everywhere. In addition, I will be writing to the press about this especially every tech site.
  Thanks for allowing me to post this rant on this well known and read tech
  site. You bought cheap-azz garbage phones and you expect them to work well? LOL
  
  I have a Galaxy S3 on TMO and I couldn't be happier. Best phone I've ever had and I've never had a single issue with it.
  
  You get what you pay for.

  24.11.2012 03:21 #9

• ChiefBrdy

  Originally posted by bdaleypsu: Originally posted by dappy123: I have been a T-Mobile customer for over 4 years. I just renewed my contract with them in April. I got two Samsung Dart phones and both of them will not SCAN any code. My wife's phone drops a call because it does not go dark when she puts it up to her face. (this is her business phone)
  This is less than half a phone. I plan to go to the local T-M store and shove the two phones up the poor innocent guy behind the counter's ass.. OH no I am not really going to do it. However, what I will do is speak to him and her in a very soft and very respectful tone. As the scene continues, I will gradually raise my voice until I get some reasonable satisfaction. If things don't get resolved in a reasonable way, I will tell them to delete my account and that if they punish me by charging me $200, I will have the local TV station there. I will post this every where I can. I am disabled and have all the time all day to post this everywhere. In addition, I will be writing to the press about this especially every tech site.
  Thanks for allowing me to post this rant on this well known and read tech
  site. You bought cheap-azz garbage phones and you expect them to work well? LOL
  
  I have a Galaxy S3 on TMO and I couldn't be happier. Best phone I've ever had and I've never had a single issue with it.
  
  You get what you pay for.
  
  
  
  I couldn't agree more. My S3 is hands down the best phone I've ever owned. Never heard of a Dart. Sounds cheap. I've been with TMO for 8 years and their customer service has gone down a bit but its that way with most companies I guess. As for the iPhone, I don't get what all the frenzy is about. Small screen. No replaceable battery and locked in to Apple's proprietary system.

  24.11.2012 12:04 #10