Pre-orders for Apple's latest smartphone will be available on Sept. 14 and the three major US mobile carriers are making the effort to gain or retain customers.
AT&T
AT&T, the original mobile carrier to carry the original iPhone back in 2007, announced that customers will be able to keep the iPhone data plans they currently have when upgrading to the iPhone 5. The announcement was confirmed by AT&T Mobility's President and CEO Ralph de la Vega.
AT&T customers will be able to place their pre-orders on Friday, Sept. 14. AT&T will be selling the iPhone 5 for $199.99 for the 16GB device, $299.99 for 32GB, and the 64GB will sell for $399.99.
The carrier, which proclaims itself as the "nation's largest 4G network" is looking to capitalize on the iPhone 5's addition of 4G LTE. AT&T's 4G network covers 275 million people with its 4G LTE available in 60 markets.
"We are thrilled to offer iPhone 5 on the nation's largest 4G network. We've worked with Apple since the original in 2007 and this is hands-down their best phone yet," said Vega. "We offer customers the flexibility to keep the iPhone data plans they already have or choose any of our individual or new Mobile Share plans. We're proud that more customers choose AT&T for iPhone than any other U.S. carrier and look forward to making iPhone 5 the newest addition to our lineup."
Verizon
Verizon is expected to see a major boost in their sales when the iPhone 5 is released. Apple partnered with Verizon to sell the iPhone last year when the iPhone 4 launched.
Jeffries & Co.'s telecom analyst Thomas Seitz stated that Verizon will be best poised to take advantage of the iPhone 5's new 4G LTE capabilities.
Apple could be considered smart with the new partnership as Verizon is the largest in terms of 4G networks in the US. Verizon's 4G network covers about 75 percent of the US' 370 markets, just 22 more than AT&T's availability.
Verizon will also include FaceTime to their data plan. They confirmed FaceTime can be used under any of its data plans. The decision is different from AT&T's approach which stated that only customers with shared data plans will have access to FaceTime.
There is bad news as FirceWireless reported back in May that Verizon will eliminate the $30 per month unlimited data plan for 3G customers.
Sprint
For Sprint, they started carrying the iPhone in October 2011, and have offered discounts for the iPhone 4S ahead of the iPhone 5's release. Sprint started launching its first LTE market in July, but they are far behind AT&T and Verizon in network range.
Sprint's 4G LTE is available in 19 markets and plans are underway to increase to 100 more cities within current 3G markets.
According to Mike Merrill of Seeking Alpha, Sprint has advantages with the iPhone 5 than other carriers.
"Sprint's unlimited data plans are a hit with consumers, particularly in a tough economy, because they offer a better value. Conversely, AT&T and Verizon both ended their unlimited data plans, and both actively penalize high data users," Merrill noted.
"iPhone 5 is packed with amazing new features and we are proud to offer Truly Unlimited data to iPhone customers so they can enjoy everything iPhone 5 has to offer on our 4G LTE network," said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse. "Whether it's finding a nearby restaurant with Siri, using Passbook to get organized or surfing the web, Sprint's truly unlimited data plans provide incredible value for iPhone customers, meaning customers can make the most of iOS 6 without worrying about costly overages on their monthly bill."
The iPhone 5 activation has to be on one of Sprint's Everything Date plans which starts at $79.99 with the Truly Unlimited data plan.
Pre-orders for Sprint will begin on Sept. 14 at 3:01 a.m. EDT.
The iPhone 5 is confirmed to feature a Retina Display screen of 4-inches with a resolution of 1136x640, two cameras with eight-megapixels on the rear and two-megapixels on the front, 4G LTE, iOS 6, and new dock connector with Lightning.
Latinos Post has helped break down and define the iPhone 5's specs ahead of next Friday's release, click here to view.
To watch some of the iPhone 5's reviews from YouTube, click here.
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