T-Mobile execs must feel somewhat depressed as they’ve watched the iPhone arrive not just on all the other major carriers in the United States but on the prepaid carriers such as Virgin Mobile and Leap Wireless as well. But per Bloomberg, T-Mobile’s days of forever being the iPhone’s bridesmaid may soon be at an end as Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett predicts that America’s #4 wireless carrier could finally get Apple’s popular smartphone next year. Specifically, Moffett sent out a research note today saying that it is “increasingly likely” that Apple and T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom would strike a deal to bring the device to its network. One crucial factor in the negotiations may be how confident Apple feels that T-Mobile will get its LTE network up and running in a timely fashion next year since T-Mobile isn’t expected to have LTE running in any markets by the time Apple launches its new LTE-capable iPhone model this fall. Unsurprisingly, Mofffett thinks nabbing the iPhone will give T-Mobile a needed boost.
“iPhone availability at T-Mobile USA would likely reduce contract losses at that company, and push Deutsche Telekom U.S. to a net revenue growth position much sooner than the market expects,” he writes.