Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Why not a T-Mobile Iphone?
- Thread starter atljogger
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
wouldnt be worth T-Mobile getting the iPhone in the UK as they hardly have any 3G coverage outside of major cities!
The MBNL merger may still be in progress, but the result is that T-Mobile's coverage should be precisely the same as 3, who are among the best (alongside Orange).
It is o2 and Vodafone (in particular o2 since they are the only network to be officially told off by OFCOM) who severely lack in 3G coverage.
I thought vodafone had good coverage they just used 900mhz UMTS so much (which the iPhone doesn't support) that iPhone users suffered outisde urban areas....
No it really wouldn't. But 1700mhz isn't as widespread as other bands so I can see why apple didn't have it in there. Though the new blackberry bold has it so you never know....
I think T-Mobile has alot better chances to get the iphone than Verizon.
All they need is to include their 3G frequency and the rest is already there.
All they need is to include their 3G frequency and the rest is already there.
So it is a hardware issue and not software-related? I love T-Mobile and I'm sure their 3G network isn't overloaded like the Death Star's, I mean, AT&T's.
It's 100% hardware. Apples iPhone supports 850/1900/2100mhz UMTS. if you wanted T-Mobile 3G you would need a 1700mhz radio in there because while t mobile uses 2100 for downlink it uses 1700 for up and thus you need both bands present.
So you need both bands for 3G? Interesting! Learn something new every day.
I HOPE, HOPE, HOPE that T-Mobile gets the next iPhone. Probably won't happen, but a boy can dream! I hate AT&T and their ridiculous pricing and customer service. I don't want to HAVE to go back but 2+ years of EDGE and counting is starting to wear me down.
All 5 UK networks run UMTS exclusively on 2100MHz.
Vodafone and O2 have 900MHz allocations which they got in the dark ages for ETACS and later GSM. I think they got 1800MHz allocations to use in urban areas some years ago.
OFCOM (the regulator) is considering forcing VF/O2 to give some of it away to Orange/T-Mobile and maybe 3 (the former two run GSM on 1800MHz, 3 only has 2100MHz UMTS) for all of them to run UMTS on it.
The fact that all our networks run the same network types on the same bands is why the UK (and a lot of Europe) seems to be so revered for its ability to get the decent phones first, and the ease and low cost of switching networks (apart from the iPhone).
I wasn't aware there were many T-Mobile customers that weren't inner city teenagers. NOT trying to start any flame wars but I can't help but notice that, living in Southern California, I've only met about 3 or 4 adults on T-Mobile. Other than that, it's nothing but high school kids on their Sidekicks snapping gum and break-dancing.
T-Mobile has one of the cheapest pay-as-you-go plans. The per-minute rate is cheap and the minutes don't expire for a year once you put $100 onto it.
This is probably why you see a lot kids on it.
I'd take hanging with the "kids" and their Sidekicks over the suits with their Crackberries ANYDAY.
If AT&T does start marketing more physical models of the iPhone (which they did with China), then it shouldn't be that hard to convert the hardware to work on T-Mobile's network at minimal cost for them -- most everyone else is doing it, so it's doubtful they'd lose money on it. OTOH if the rumors turn out to be true, and the next iPhone is a hybrid CDMA/GSM device using that Qualcomm chip, I dunno... maybe that chip is actually versatile enough to also do the 3G band that T-Mo uses in the US?
But its extremely suggestive. I'm not going to have this fight right now but watch what you say.
Yeah when they say a frequency band its usually the center frequency/downlink frequency. So 2100 refers to the euro band where 2100 is used for downlink and 1900mhz is used for uplink (reason North American cant use euro 2100 is because 1900 is already being used for existing 2G services). Anyways thats how its been. When they started using the new 2100mhz people got confused and thought it was the same as the euro band even though it uses 2100 down just like the euro band but 1700 up. This confused many users when T-Mobile first rolled out there 3G network. If T-Mobile had got in early in the game I have a feeling we would have iPhone 3G's working with 3G on T-Mobile.So you need both bands for 3G? Interesting! Learn something new every day.
I HOPE, HOPE, HOPE that T-Mobile gets the next iPhone. Probably won't happen, but a boy can dream! I hate AT&T and their ridiculous pricing and customer service. I don't want to HAVE to go back but 2+ years of EDGE and counting is starting to wear me down.
Oh ok that clears things up. I could of sworn I heard vodafone had 900mhz UMTS but whatever. I think its bad they only run 2100mhz UMTS and not 850 as well like allot of countrys these days. 2100 doesn't go as far as 850.....
I would gladly enjoy letting T-Mobile officially carry the iPhone. Much more than Vericrap.
I would just hate having "Verizon" written on my phone and all there **** force fed onto the phone. Why do carriers insist on being so controlling?
Because they fear that the public sees them as what they really are... dumb pipes.
I like dumb pipes
. Well I guess they will lighten up on this in the future....look what happened with ISP's.....2100mhz sucks anyway. Go into any large concrete building or down a valley, and you'll typically be dropped to 2G, which is usually on 900mhz in most counties.
3G should only be on 900mhz and 850mhz. I speak from experience in Australia, where 2100mhz is common on cheaper carriers, but 850mhz and 900mhz are used for outback 3G coverage because 2100mhz just doesn't work well enough for the kind of range they need towers to have.
3G should only be on 900mhz and 850mhz. I speak from experience in Australia, where 2100mhz is common on cheaper carriers, but 850mhz and 900mhz are used for outback 3G coverage because 2100mhz just doesn't work well enough for the kind of range they need towers to have.
T-Mobile Adults Unite!
I'm a T-Mobile Adult too!
T-mobile does OK by me even though the EDGE Internet thing is just awful.
No iPhone for me until ANYONE but AT&T supports it. I'd rather deal with an obscure Cuban, Romanian, or even Zimbabwe - based company without translators than AT&T.
For that matter, Smoke Signals and Telegrams start to look good when considering going back to AT&T.
Sadly, T-Mobile is unlikely to score iPhones as they are a budget carrier. Oh well.
Maybe I'll try Verizon if they should get the iPhone.
Have Fun!
Who's your Fave Five?
Keri
I'm a T-Mobile Adult too!
T-mobile does OK by me even though the EDGE Internet thing is just awful.
No iPhone for me until ANYONE but AT&T supports it. I'd rather deal with an obscure Cuban, Romanian, or even Zimbabwe - based company without translators than AT&T.
For that matter, Smoke Signals and Telegrams start to look good when considering going back to AT&T.
Sadly, T-Mobile is unlikely to score iPhones as they are a budget carrier. Oh well.
Maybe I'll try Verizon if they should get the iPhone.
Have Fun!
Who's your Fave Five?
Keri