{"id":648736,"date":"2013-03-25T19:26:21","date_gmt":"2013-03-25T23:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=624159"},"modified":"2013-03-25T19:48:36","modified_gmt":"2013-03-25T23:48:36","slug":"what-we-want-to-hear-from-t-mobile-tuesday-the-iphone-lte-and-the-end-of-subsidies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/648736","title":{"rendered":"What we want to hear from T-Mobile Tuesday: the iPhone, LTE and the end of subsidies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few mobile carrier press conferences attract the attention of an Apple or Samsung event, but there are a lot of expectations building around T-Mobile USA\u2019s \u201cUncarrier\u201d shindig taking place Tuesday morning. T-Mobile hasn\u2019t officially revealed any specifics about what it will announce at 11 a.m. ET at New York\u2019s Art + Technology Center, but there have been a lot of hints, leaks and speculation.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know for certain what will emerge at the event tomorrow, but I expect we\u2019ll hear at least one, if not all, of the following three revelations:<\/p>\n

T-Mobile finally gets the iPhone<\/h2>\n

\"iPhone<\/a>The build-up to this single handset announcement has been endless, but tomorrow may well be the day that T-Mobile officially becomes an iPhone retailer. T-Mobile has confirmed the iPhone is coming<\/a>. It just hadn\u2019t set a date.<\/p>\n

According to CNET\u2019s sources, the iPhone will play a prominent role<\/a> at tomorrow\u2019s event. That\u2019s sweet, but T-Mobile really needs to give specifics on availability and pricing tomorrow or it really shouldn\u2019t even bother mentioning the iconic Apple device. Practically every discussion about T-Mobile USA for the last two years has revolved around when or if it would get the iPhone<\/a>. As T-Mo has made abundantly clear, it\u2019s getting the iPhone. The only thing we want to know is when we can buy it.<\/p>\n

LTE goes live<\/h2>\n

This one is almost a given. T-Mobile has promised we\u2019ll see a live LTE network this month, and there are only a few more days left in March. We\u2019ve already seen a big spike in LTE testing activity in eight major cities<\/a> across the country, and TMoNews has obtained internal documents indicating T-Mobile will launch in seven markets<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n

Either way, the carrier is well ahead of schedule. After its planned merger with AT&T<\/a> flopped, T-Mobile launched an ambitious spectrum-refarming project<\/a> designed to give it an LTE network in the second half of 2013. The impending launch of the iPhone, however, gives its LTE rollout new urgency<\/a> since it wants to support the iPhone 5\u2019s full radio capabilities as soon as it goes on sale.<\/p>\n

Death to all device subsidies<\/h2>\n

New CEO John Legere has promised T-Mobile will remake the mobile industry by ending its long practice of heavily discounting devices<\/a> in exchange for long-term pricey service contracts.<\/p>\n

\"T-Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

T-Mobile USA CEO John Legere<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

We\u2019ve already seen the basic framework of that strategy emerge over the last year in T-Mobile\u2019s Value plans<\/a>, which still require contracts but offer much lower voice and data rates. Over the weekend, T-Mobile revamped its Value plans once again, making unlimited voice and SMS standard on all pricing tiers.<\/p>\n

What we\u2019re still waiting to hear about are the specifics of T-Mobile\u2019s big strategy \u2013 to see whether it can truly separate service from the handset<\/a>. Many operators have complained about the subsidy system in the past, but so far T-Mobile is the only major U.S. carrier to do anything about it.<\/p>\n

What I\u2019m waiting to see is whether T-Mobile truly follows through on its commitment to eliminating subsidies completely or if it just maintains its current policy of offering unsubsidized plans as an option. If it\u2019s the former, T-Mo would take a huge risk, but it could change the U.S. mobile industry for the better<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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