U.S. Cellular Turned Down iPhone over 'Unacceptable' Terms from Apple

[Plutonius]

Proof of your claim. I can point to Sprint had to bet the farm to get an iPhone from Apple so clearly that is not the case and killing your entire argument.

The subsidized price might be to much for them to make a profit at all on the contract but beside that I can still point back to Sprint.

Sprint had to guarantee a lot to get a sprint iPhone produced.

 

[AppleFanatic10]

This is going to make a lot of U.S. Cellular customers upset...

 

[Rot'nApple]

and if the agreement to carry the iPhone would be unprofitable for them (aka they loose money on the iPhone) why would you leaving be worse. It would cost them more than they could get off you to carry the iPhone.


All signs point to the fact that Apple's requirements and cost to carry the iPhone are much higher per phone than others.

Yes, but was it not recently written regarding the Sprint deal that they had to pay out the wahzoo, wherever that is, to get the iPhone and don't expect to recoup their expenditures until several years later?

The point needing repeating, 'recoup their expenditures until several years later'.

So even Sprint says it sees the possibility of recouping their investment. Of course things can always change, but...

Also, 'Apple's requirements and costs for carriers to carry the iPhone', what did it cost the carriers in RandD to invent the iPhone and the iOS? What did it cost Apple? Seriously, does anyone know how much Apple had spent??? And what further expenditures is Apple putting forth in RandD to keep the iPhone fresh and the phone iOS innovative? What do the carriers spend their money on? Infrastructure updates that would have been needed anyway for upkeep or changing technologies?

Apples iPhone 'cost more than other phones', but what was it we had prior to 2007? I'm sure everybody remembers. And the phones that were rolled out 'similar' with touch screen or whatever to Apple's back in 2007, would they have been as sensational and have had a game changing effect on the smartphone and wireless industry as a whole? Dunno know, where are those phone makers and phones now, but I thank Heaven Apple was the one that pulled it off! 🙂
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[NitroZip]

How dare the fools turn down Apple! They are doomed!
No cell company can survive if they turn down Apple.
Shame on them.

 

[mr.iso]

"man i hate oracle/arcsight/trustwave/emc/cypress"
"yeah me too"
"you know what else i hate, everyone"
"oh yeah"
"say, how's the cellular reception on sprint in and around long island? And while we're on the topic, let's poll some other people who have verizon and att and see how they like the reception in long island."
"did you hear about the large hadron collider?"
"i love coffee"

ftfm

 

[anotonin]

The iPhone is an expensive gadget for any carrier. Sprint bet-their-farm to carry it.

Do like they do in the rest of the world. Separate the device from the carrier. Then both prosper or fail 'on their own merits' ---- not because they happen to carry a particular device.

And we, the consumer wins.

That is actually a better plan. Apple sells unlocked Iphones which can be carried by other networks and everybody wins.

 

[J53119]

It is very possible Apple told them you have to sell X amount of phones, in addition to the higher subsidies.

US Cellular does have a big advantage over Sprint and Verizon in Wisconsin. They are in the 800MHz band, whereas Sprint and Verizon are 1900MHz. Yes, Verizon is 1900MHz in WI because the network started as PrimeCo PCS back in the day. So building penetration is much better, and I notice this when I force my (sorry, Android) phone to roam.

 

[*LTD*]

If the situation was reversed, say when Apple was in it's pre iPod era, Steve would have told them to shove it.

Shoulda woulda coulda.

Apple cut off it's nose to spite it's face since day one.

Whatever they did it worked out great.

I would expect you of all people to applaud this move by US Cellular, they are behaving just like Steve would.

How does some budget carrier compare to Steve Jobs' Apple . . . and of a decade ago to boot?? 😕

They're just some carrier (that barely anyone's heard of), a lot like so many other carriers: a dumb pipe. They're a dime-a-dozen, especially these here-today-gone-tomorrow budget carriers.

Get real.

 

[cwwilson]

Seriously, a third world carrier turns down the iPhone and suddenly everyone is praising them?

If you want an iPhone, go get one. If you don't, get something else. But all these Apple doomsday articles are getting ridiculous.

 

[Slayter]

Yeah, same happened in the Czech Republic, our carrier Telefonica O2 rejected to sell iPhone 4S, they decided to be dorks, and be proud of it.. what can I say... other carries around the world don`t have any problems to sell the iPhone..

 

[seedster2]

With neither, and a possible a minimum purchase commitment of devices that don't appear as aligned with USC's target consumer, that's probably not a great deal for them.

So they didn't want it. Big deal. They appear to be a budget outlet and probably couldn't afford it. I'm sure their CEO knows what's best for their company.

It's not. Companies have accountants to decide if it's a loss or not. In this case, it looked like it was economically not profitable for them to sell it. It's a business decision, not a fanboy decision. When you grow up, you will understand. Sometimes you have to turn down something to stay in business.

As said above, it's just business. I am confident the USC CEO knows more about her company than the experts here. there are number of reasons why the iPhone may not fit in their business model

 

[cameronjpu]

The inflexibility is in the lack of discounts 2 months into the life of a model. Unlike your average [any name but Apple] smartphone, which usually has a life span under 6 months, and spends about 2/3 of that with the price dropping like a rock until it reaches $0. I can only guess that includes the price to the providers dropping, as well. Apple keeps it the same.

I guess no one remembers what happened the last time Apple discounted a phone 2 months into its life, huh?

----------

1. Well lets see US Cellular not the only carrier to turn down the iPhone.
2. Sprint betting the farm to get the iPhone.
3. We know AT&T paid a huge price to carry the iPhone first.


Shall we go on.

I'm sure somewhere in your head those three points come together to prove something. But for the life of me I have no idea what that point could be.

 

[Hastings101]

Never heard of 'em.

You've never been to the Midwest. U.S. Cellular is everywhere here.

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They're just some carrier (that barely anyone's heard of), a lot like so many other carriers: a dumb pipe. They're a dime-a-dozen, especially these here-today-gone-tomorrow budget carriers.

Get real.

U.S. Cellular has been around since the early 90s 😛, longer than some of the major cell companies.

 

[Tiger8]

Give them a year

I might be off, but to me it is a technology / logistics challenge. The iPhone is just too expensive for the prepaid / mid market.

I say in one year time, when the iPhone 5 (or 6) is released, one of the announcements will be that the 3Gs will be retired and 4 will take its spot as $0 on contact / $375 without. The 4 already comes as CDMA, and indeed $375 is close to some of those highend prepaid Android phones.

I would not be surprised if next year US Cellular, Virgin Mobile, MetroPCS, Boost, and Cricket get the iPhone 4.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Shoulda woulda coulda.


Whatever they did it worked out great.


How does some budget carrier compare to Steve Jobs' Apple . . . and of a decade ago to boot?? 😕

They're just some carrier (that barely anyone's heard of), a lot like so many other carriers: a dumb pipe. They're a dime-a-dozen, especially these here-today-gone-tomorrow budget carriers.

Get real.

But it didn't work out great until a few years ago and there was no way of knowing it would work out great 20 years ago, was there? Of course then you would applaud the rogue attitude since Apple was the little guy. Apple was a budget company at one time too. Or is that selective memory? Lame answer from you once again.

You've never been to the Midwest. U.S. Cellular is everywhere here.

----------



U.S. Cellular has been around since the early 90s 😛, longer than some of the major cell companies.

LTD only likes facts if they put Apple in a positive light, otherwise he ignores them or doesn't reply.

 

[Mortalias]

Who?

/Thread

 

[macinnv]

I had to laugh at the debt offering Sprint had to put forth yesterday to expand its network. $3 billion at an average of about 11% for ten years. Yep they are toast. Lets let them fail a little harder then Verizon will buy em up. Soon we'll be down to just 2 major carriers.

 

[maconservative]

Common sense...

Maybe. Maybe not. If the model wasn't proving profitable for them - then it's not their loss.

There IS common sense on these forums...

 

[AidenShaw]

There IS common sense on these forums...

...but sometimes you have to wade through a lot of nonsense to find it!

 

[Benski007]

I'm a current U.S. Cellular customer, but after reading this and listening to the conference call I'm done. I had hope with C Spire getting the iPhone, but it's obvious U.S. Cellular doesn't want to offer the iPhone. I guess it's off to Verizon I go.

 

[twoodcc]

well the iPhone isn't for every network, but i think they need to get this deal done

 

[Misaki]

US Cellular will not activate any device that didn't originally come from them. What do you mean "flash it"? In order for this to work on CDMA, the ESN would have to be added to the carrier's system and then the SID and MTN would have to be changed on the device.

Refusing to activate better devices that they don't sell seems like shooting themselves in the foot these days.

Either way, every person I know who has done business with USC does not like them. Usually it has to do with getting billed for things they didn't do and the carrier refusing to remove the charges. I know one person who cancelled service and they kept sending him bills for 6 months.

This isn't entirely true. But you have to know what you're asking for.

US Cellular uses CDMA, therefor they can activate any CDMA phone on their network provided the ESN is in their system. Verizon and Sprint ESN's are not in their system. You can get them to add it, but you're going to go through a whole lot of hell to succeed. The reason is that wireless carriers generally don't add foreign ESN's except in very limited cases (Car phones mainly) where the device simply isn't replaceable with one of their own.

Where I worked (not US Cellular,) occasionally someone with an old car phone or suitcase-sized phone would call up to try and activate them. Usually we'd just play dumb, try and activate it and when it fails tell them it's not supported. However there is usually an escalation procedure where a technician can actually add the ESN to the HLR manually, thus bypassing the billing system's ESN validation. Note I'm referring to a 2G TDMA system not a 2.5G CDMA2000 or GSM system. In the older CDMA and TDMA systems, the analog mode ESN could be activated on either. When the Analog system was shut down, obviously this could no longer be done (TDMA on CDMA or vice versa.) However the ability to enable an alien ESN still is doable, you just have to find someone who is aware of it and is willing to sacrifice their performance metrics to do it for you.

That said, why would you buy a Verizon or Sprint iPhone and then use it on another carrier? It's not like the GSM devices where the actual device is irrelevant, the network only cares about the IMEI on the sim card. The device may be sim-locked, but you just need to acquire a manufacturer unlocked phone from another country (eg Canada.)

http://store.apple.com/ca/browse/ho...iphone/iphone4s?afid=p219|GOCA&cid=AOS-CA-KWG

"About the Unlocked iPhone
The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a contract commitment. You can activate and use it on the supported GSM wireless network of your choice.* The unlocked iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S will not work with CDMA-based carriers."

 

[lllll]

US Cellular is another proof that cell phone company only look after their own interest and not the customer. Sprint on the other hand, clearly understand that customer want the iPhone, they even sacrifice profit just to get more customer.

 

[Tiger8]

I had to laugh at the debt offering Sprint had to put forth yesterday to expand its network. $3 billion at an average of about 11% for ten years. Yep they are toast. Lets let them fail a little harder then Verizon will buy em up. Soon we'll be down to just 2 major carriers.

I don't understand your attitude, are you happy if Sprint fails harder? Seriously, even if you are on AT&T or Verizon, you should hope and pray not only Sprint survives, but also T-Mobile. Verizon and AT&T would screw everyone if it's left to them two, starting with YOUR phone bill.

 

[samcraig]

They're just some carrier (that barely anyone's heard of), a lot like so many other carriers: a dumb pipe. They're a dime-a-dozen, especially these here-today-gone-tomorrow budget carriers.

Get real.

Ignorance is Ignorance. And I love (sarcasm) that you think just because YOU haven't heard of them - that barely anyone's hear of them.

Your egocentrism is astounding.