Quickies October 23, 2011

T-Mobile Working Hard (At Apple Stores) To Fight Lack of iPhone

Poor T-Mobile. They are now the only major mobile carrier in the US not carrying the iPhone. With the release of the iPhone 4S, now AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint have the iPhone 4 and 4S. Which leaves T-Mobile as the odd man out.

But T-Mobile is trying to fight back. First, they issued a press release stating that they would love to carry the iPhone, but it is up to Apple. In the same press release, they explain reasons they feel their network is superior. Don’t get me wrong – I really love T-Mobile, as does Francis. Their “4G” network speeds are currently unmatched and very reliable, but Verizon is quickly gaining ground with their aggressive LTE rollout.

Well, T-Mobile is not taking the lack of an iPhone layout down. They are fighting, and very actively. Imagine my surprise when I walked past my local Apple Store and see these very tall standing ads from T-Mobile in the hallway leading up to the Apple Store. Four of them, on each side of the store. You really can’t miss these ads, and it is impressive they were able to put them so close (and strategically placed) to the Apple Store entrance.

Interestingly, the ad has a QR code that points you to your local T-Mobile stores which carry Mobile Broadband. If you read the fine print, this sub-$20 plan requires a qualifying voice plan, so this is an add-on for existing T-Mobile customers. I doubt anyone in line is going to skip the iPhone just so they can get in on this deal, but I do have to applaud T-Mobile for trying.