Regional carriers launch the iPhone at a $50 discount
Earlier this month, five regional U.S. carriers announced that they would begin carrying the iPhone 4 and 4S. All were offering the devices at $50 less than the standard list prices of the larger national carriers (AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint). All five carriers are in more rural areas of the country that aren’t well served by the national carriers. Two are in Alaska, for example.
nTelos will be the second regional iPhone carrier in the U.S.
Most news about the iPhone in the U.S. is centered around the major national carriers including those that offer the iPhone (AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint) and T-Mobile, which doesn’t.
Today, however, that news focuses on Virginia-based carrier nTelos, which will become the second smaller carrier in the U.S. to offer the iPhone. Seeking to differentiate its iPhone options from the larger carriers, nTelos is also offering some sweet deals on the purchase of an iPhone 4/4S as well as a bargain price for unlimited data.
The inability to sell the iPhone is hurting T-Mobile USA. The only one of four U.S. carriers not offering the Apple smartphone, T-Mobile announced it saw a drop in new subscribers due to the iPhone 4S launching at Sprint, Verizon Wireless and AT&T in October.
Alongside the fifteen new countries that will get the iPhone 4S on November 11th, Apple’s latest and greatest handset will also come to its fourth US carrier: the little known regional carrier C-Spire Wireless. And for subscribers on a budget, the iPhone 4 will be coming to C-Spire too.