Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Sprint iPhone availability?

R

rowr

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 19, 2007
29
0
Boston
I had an opportunity to use a friend's new iPhone and while the phone itself is nice the Cingular network continues to suck. It works fine closer to Boston but once I cross the Rt 128 boundary the hand-off fails. So much for Cingular's advertisements about the best network. Whatever.

Anyone know any rumors about when the iPhone will become available for Sprint?

I'm not really interested in Verizon, given Verizon's track record for stripping out features and functionality to force people to buy their add-on plans.


I won't be buying an iPhone until it is available for use on the Sprint network.
 
rowr said:
I won't be buying an iPhone until it is available for use on the Sprint network.
Click to expand...

Well, then you'll be waiting a while, as AT&T has exclusive rights to provide service for the iPhone. Probably will be two years or longer before other providers will be able to sell/service iPhones.

I just jumped ship from Sprint when I bought my iPhone. I'd been a longtime customer, too, but the iPhone definitely is worth it!
 
rowr said:
I had an opportunity to use a friend's new iPhone and while the phone itself is nice the Cingular network continues to suck. It works fine closer to Boston but once I cross the Rt 128 boundary the hand-off fails. So much for Cingular's advertisements about the best network. Whatever.

Anyone know any rumors about when the iPhone will become available for Sprint?

I'm not really interested in Verizon, given Verizon's track record for stripping out features and functionality to force people to buy their add-on plans.


I won't be buying an iPhone until it is available for use on the Sprint network.
Click to expand...

apple and cingular signed an exclusive 6 year deal so u should be able to get an iphone w/ sprint around 2012.
 
whawhat said:
apple and cingular signed an exclusive 6 year deal so u should be able to get an iphone w/ sprint around 2012.
Click to expand...

Looks like it'll be 6 years then, unless I move away from Boston. Cingular's network in the Boston suburbs is terrible.
 
All that is official is "multi-year," which could mean 2, 3, 4, or even 6 (SIX!!) years, yes. But USA Today reported five years and other sources have said three. The deal may only preclude Apple developing a CDMA iPhone, or perhaps a CDMA iPhone for 5-6 years, but not necessarily offering a GSM iPhone on another carrier (*cough*T-Mo*cough*) in a lesser timeframe. Nobody really knows, so we're all just theorizing. I've not heard six years until this thread, so take it with a grain of salt.

Anyway, it'll be at least 2-3 years, I'm sure. :)
 
Fair enough, I had read 5 years everywhere. USA today was just the first link on my google search to backup my statement ;)

Whatever it be, it's a long exclusivity deal.
 
5 years...
edesignuk said:
Still, far to long to wait.
Click to expand...

Call me weird but if someone gave me a FREE iPhone I'd probably not use it. I rely on my phone to speak to customers - the Cingular network in jolly old Beantown just does not cut it.

Those of you who have good service with Cingular should consider yourselves lucky.
 
edesignuk said:
Fair enough, I had read 5 years everywhere. USA today was just the first link on my google search to backup my statement ;)

Whatever it be, it's a long exclusivity deal.
Click to expand...

I understand. :)

I read that article as well and just refreshed myself on it that no direct source for that info had been cited. We all have to be critical consumers of information these days... rumors and misinformation spread like wildfire, and biased opinions with selfish interests are broadcast as "fair and balanced." ;)

So all we know is that USA Today non-chalantly mentioned 5 years, but Apple and AT&T, including Stan Sigman, have only been quoted with "multi-year." Could be variable based on all kinds of terms, and that's why they don't really want to say... maybe we'll find out as docs leak in the coming months? I hope.
 
rowr said:
5 years...


Call me weird but if someone gave me a FREE iPhone I'd probably not use it. I rely on my phone to speak to customers - the Cingular network in jolly old Beantown just does not cut it.

Those of you who have good service with Cingular should consider yourselves lucky.
Click to expand...

Cingular experience could be related to the handset's RF strength, or just the way your friends/family/whoever treat their phones. You should at least try the iPhone before judging its RF ability and the audio quality of a whole provider, especially over an entire area...
 
rowr said:
Looks like it'll be 6 years then, unless I move away from Boston. Cingular's network in the Boston suburbs is terrible.
Click to expand...

So true. Cingular is crap all over the northeast. I'm happy with sprint and verizon who provide the service for my PPC and regular phone respectively. Means I don't get the iPhone? oh well. Sprint is charging me less than half the iPhone data costs anyway.
 
first off at&t has the best network here in the u.s. They just bought out cellular one who provides coverage to rural areas. The iphone is locked to at&t for 5 years untill other providers can pick up the iPhone.
 
EHh I've never really had a problem with cingular/at&t or sprint when I had them a few years ago.

You have your random dead spots of course ... but just about all cariers have them. What matters most though is they don't have the deadspots where you need your phone the most. For me its never been a issue with cingular so I've been happy (I've been with them for a little over three years and was with sprint for three before that).
 
flacojo32 said:
first off at&t has the best network here in the u.s.
that's gotta be one of the biggest lies out there. Hahah.
ATT is horrible, the only service worse is Tmobile. Verizon and sprint just blow it out of the water. It has nothing to do with the phone just the quality of the service and the shittiness of their towers.

In my city in LA , only verizon and sprint get reception at my house and that pretty much holds true all thru the residential areas of the house.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
rowr said:
Those of you who have good service with Cingular should consider yourselves lucky.
Click to expand...

I prefer to consider you unlucky.

Where I live Cingular is head and shoulders above all the other carriers. It is not even close.

So maybe you need to move? Boston is not that cool anyways. :D
 
clayfu said:
that's gotta be one of the biggest lies out there. Hahah.
ATT is horrible, the only service worse is Tmobile. Verizon and sprint just blow it out of the water. It has nothing to do with the phone just the quality of the service and the shittiness of their towers.

In my city in LA , only verizon and sprint get reception at my house and that pretty much holds true all thru the residential areas of the house.
Click to expand...

I like how people extrapolate their neighborhood to the whole country.

In that case, Verizon and Sprint are the worst cell phone carriers in the world, because they are unusable in my neighborhood.
 
marksman said:
I like how people extrapolate their neighborhood to the whole country.

In that case, Verizon and Sprint are the worst cell phone carriers in the world, because they are unusable in my neighborhood.
Click to expand...

sorry was giving an example.
Los angeles is one of the most densely populated places in America, you'd think if cellphone coverage isn't good here its a good example of the rest of America.

How bout Manhattan? I have sprint my gf has ATT, my reception is better than hers. Same as in Orlando Florida, Las Vegas Nevada, San Francisco california, and Sacramento California. (school and vacation spots in the past year)

SHRUG.

Verizon or sprint might not have good service in your area because its not worth their money to place multiple towers?

But its pretty well known how bad ATT and Tmobile are and how clear verizon and sprint are. You maybe an exception but exceptions don't mean much =) You can defend ATT and apple till your death bed but it won't change the fact
 
I ported over from Sprint this weekend. I am (was?) in a contract with Sprint, and obviously will need to pay a cancellation fee.

Well, the porting was easy, called an 800 #, it was complete an hour later.

I just tried to log onto my Sprint plan online, and it doesn't exist.

So my question is: Is cancelling automatically done as the port transfer is completed? Or do I have to call Sprint and cancel myself? I guess if it's automatic, I just sit and wait on Sprint to send the final bill....yikes.
 
I think the level of coverage (where you can get a signal) and the quality of coverage (how good the signal is) varies a great deal from city to city. It's a function of technology and how much each company invests in its network, and also a function of how good the particular managers in any one region were at snapping up the best locations for towers a couple of decades ago. Consumer Reports does an annual survey that lists the best coverage by city -- I haven't looked at it in a couple of years, but I remember that when I was a Sprint customer about 4 years ago, Sprint was usually near the bottom in most cities (which matched my experience and is the reason I'm no longer a Sprint customer). I'm pretty sure I saw a post somewhere around here noting that AT&T has not done so well in any of the recent surveys.

However, the fact that AT&T and Cingular merged gives me hope that AT&T's quality will improve, because where the two companies had overlapping service, they can now choose from the best tower locations, and can also keep multiple towers where necessary to enhance coverage.
 
Different areas, different service. I'm sure AT&T is just as good as Verizon in the DC/Baltimore (and NoVA) but my major worry is while I'm at college in State College, PA (Penn State University). The cost of the iPhone and monthly fees would basically be like flushing money down the toilet considering the fact that area has some of the lowest quality cell phone technology.

Hell, it doesn't even have EVDO from Verizon, and I don't know much about how widespread EDGE is (I know there isn't 3G in that area though). I would think that since the former Cingular had major marketing agreements with Penn State that there would be atleast EDGE service but the AT&T website doesn't explain where EDGE technology is and isn't located (atleast the last time I checked). Anybody care to explain if ALL of AT&T service includes EDGE or only certain areas like 3G?
 
rowr said:
5 years...


Call me weird but if someone gave me a FREE iPhone I'd probably not use it. I rely on my phone to speak to customers - the Cingular network in jolly old Beantown just does not cut it.

Those of you who have good service with Cingular should consider yourselves lucky.
Click to expand...

I don't understand as far as im concerned AT&T has dark orange coverage in boston and beyond boston. Where is Rt 128 near as in City wise? I don't drive so i wouldn't know. I am with Sprint and i get horrible service everywhere i go in boston or outside of boston. That doesnt mention dropped calls that I get on a dalily basis.
 
Will the iPhone be available through Sprint

Will the iPhone be available through Sprint

Cingular obtained a multi-year exclusivity on the iPhone before Apple started work on the project. The agreement means no other carrier will be able to sell the iPhone through 2009. Cingular is a GSM-based network, so Apple would also have to develop a CDMA based iPhone to be compatible with Sprint. You can expect Sprint to pursue an agreement with Apple when the exclusivity ends.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back