T-Mobile USA finally gets the iPhone 5 starting in April
A customer tries out the Apple iPhone 5 inside the Apple Fifth Avenue flagship store on the first morning it went on sale on September 21, 2012 in New York City.
T-Mobile USA customers won't have to look longingly at their friend's shiny new iPhone 5's anymore.
Starting April 12, the iPhone will be sold by T-Mobile for use on their contract-free networks.
"This is an important day for people who love their iPhone but can’t stand the pain other carriers put them through to own one," T-Mobile President & CEO John Legere said in a press release Tuesday.
"We feel their pain. I've felt the pain. So we’re rewriting the rules of wireless to provide a radically simple, affordable iPhone 5 experience — on an extremely powerful network."
"T-Mobile will be the only carrier to offer the iPhone 5 without a contract," he added.
T-Mobile is the last of the major US operators to sell the Apple smartphone.
The company hopes offering the popular phone on its contract-free networks will help it poach customers from bigger rivals Sprint Nextel, AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless.
In addition to the iPhone 5, T-Mobile announced it will be adding a series of other 4G LTE devices including the Samsung Galaxy S 4, BlackBerry Z10, Samsung Galaxy Note II and the HTC One.
Customers will be able to pre-order the iPhone 5 on April 5 for a $99.99 down payment with 24 monthly payments of $20 after that. The phones will be received, and available in stores, on April 12.