T-Mobile iPhone 5 is now official: launch date is April 12th for $99

T-Mobile has finally announced that it will carry the latest iPhone 5 starting from April 12th with an on-contract price of $99. The T-Mobile iPhone 5 will be compatible with the carrier’s new and developing 4G LTE network. T-Mobile, the nation’s fourth-largest carrier, is the last one of the major operators to get the iPhone.

With the new Uncarrier branding however you won’t have to sign up for a contract to get the phone cheaper. Instead, T-Mobile will charge customers $99 for the iPhone 5 up-front and then an additional $20 per month for 20 months. Or you can just pay the full retail price of the device right away, your choice. The T-Mobile iPhone 5 will launch with support for AWS HSPA+ as well as 4G LTE, it will also support HD voice.

T-Mobile will also have the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 available in select markets, but details on those devices were scant.

The lack of a T-Mobile branded iPhone was long seen as a huge deterrent for the carrier. It has supported the iPhone on its network for quite a while, but users could not make full use of its HSPA+ network because of compatibility issues.

Good news is carrier exclusivity is no longer a factor, and operators can now focusing on actually improving their networks and rolling out 4G LTE across the nation.

source: T-Mobile