On September 21, T-Mobile USA may try to convince you NOT to buy the iPhone 5

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By Rene Ritchie
last updated

T-Mobile may not be getting the iPhone 5 this year, making them once again the only major US carrier bereft of Apple's multi-million selling mobile device, and if they can't have it, dammit, they're going to make sure you don't have one either. This according to David Beren at TmoNews, who received a couple of images in his inbox hinting at what the future just might hold, or rather not hold, for T-Mobile USA.

Based on both pieces of information that just came into our inbox, we’re trying to draw two conclusions, one that T-Mobile isn’t getting the iPhone 5, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. The second is that with the receipt of new Monthly4G microSIM kits supporting the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, T-Mobile is close to announcing some news about their network refarm.

The second of the two images details September Training Priorities (Retail, Branded, RPS) and includes a section on Selling Against the iPhone.

September 21 is, of course, the day iMore learned Apple will be launching the iPhone 5 in the US. If T-Mo wants their reps selling against it, odds are it's because they won't be selling it.

T-Mobile has historically been incompatible with the iPhone due to their use of the less common AWS frequencies for 3G. The lack of an official iPhone on their network has led to severe competitive problems for T-Mobile in the past. Since the iPhone 5 may support LTE, which T-Mobile won't start supporting until 2013, that mat not be likely to change any time soon.

Previously, the 3G incompatibility meant anyone running an unlocked iPhone on T-Mobile's network was limited to 2G EDGE speeds. Still, over a million T-Mobile customers chose to do just that. In recent months, T-Mobile has been offering cheap family plans and reassigning compatible bands to 3G to help give those unofficial iPhone customers a better value and experience. T-Mobile even placed a bubble around Apple's WWDC 2012 event back in June as a symbolic gesture.

While nothing is official until Apple makes a proper announcement, if they're once again frozen out of the iPhone party this year, September 21 isn't going to be a happy day at T-Mobile USA regardless of their training plans.

Source: TmoNews

Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.