CES 2012: IPhone 5 to Support T-Mobile Network

Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 will support T-Mobile’s network, giving the struggling fourth-place carrier an opportunity to gain ground on its competitors.

T-Mobile’s chief technology officer Neville Ray at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week told CNET and several other sources the chipsets in the new iPhone 5 will support the Advanced Wireless Services, or AWS, frequency the carrier uses in its 3G network.

Just because the iPhone 5 is capable of running on T-Mobile, however, doesn’t mean the companies will be able to strike a deal. Apple largely ignored past requests from the carrier to create an AWS-friendly version of the iPhone, and T-Mobile aggressively promotes Android phones it says are as good, or better than, the iPhone.

However, adding the iPhone 5 to its lineup would be a major boost for a network still reeling from its failed merger with AT&T. The company is reforming its business strategy after the lengthy nine-month process resulted in thousands of lost customers due to uncertainty about the carrier’s fate.

In addition to figuring out how to lure returning and new customers, T-Mobile is the only “big four” U.S. carrier that does not offer the highly coveted iPhone due to its HSPA+ network, which Apple’s device does not support.

More than its other challenges, lack of the iPhone is often cited as T-Mobile’s biggest hurdle to overcome, but that obstacle may be temporary.

Acquiring the iPhone is a costly move for a smaller carrier like T-Mobile. The carrier received a hefty $3 billion break-up fee from AT&T, giving it some cash to invest, but third-place rival Sprint will spend $20 billion over the next five years to sell Apple’s top-selling device and create a more data-friendly network.

So far, the move seems to have paid off for Sprint, but the company remains in debt for the foreseeable future.

T-Mobile is also behind its competitors on launching a speedy LTE network, saying it’s not in a big hurry to create one. Playing to consumer demand for faster data and streaming speeds, Verizon and AT&T are rapidly expanding their 4G networks, and Sprint will launch its own network later this year. If the next iPhone runs exclusively on LTE, T-Mobile may find itself out in the cold once again.

But T-Mobile is back on the road to recovery, once again promoting its value plans and announcing flashy new hardware like the Samsung Blaze 4G, expected to be a top seller.

Apple’s iPhone 5 could give T-Mobile a chance to rival its competitors this fall, but it’s a risky move that carries major challenges for the fourth-place underdog.