Tiny regional carrier C Spire lands iPhone 4S
C Spire, a wireless carrier you’ve probably never heard of, announced Wednesday that it will become the fourth U.S. wireless provider to sell the iPhone 4S.
The regional carrier formerly known as Cellular South serves just under 900,000 customers, mostly in Mississippi. By contrast, Sprint, previously the smallest carrier to sell the iPhone, serves 52 million customers.
It’s a departure for Apple, which entered into a nearly four-year iPhone exclusivity agreement with AT&T. That ended earlier this year when Verizon, the country’s largest wireless network, finally snagged the coveted phone. Sprint, the nation’s No. 3, joined the ranks this month.
One possible reason for the course change is that Google, which licenses its Android operating system for free, has made significant headway in the smaller markets. Its open-source strategy has allowed handset manufacturers to make and sell cheap Smartphone via regional carriers across the world.
In the United States, low-cost carriers like Leap Wireless’ Cricket, MetroPCS, Sprint’s Boost Wireless and Virgin Mobile all sell Android Smartphone. Regional carriers including U.S. Cellular, C Spire and Cincinnati Bell Wireless also carry Android devices.
The C Spire deal opens up the possibility that other small carriers could start selling the iPhone as well.
Previously, analysts believed that the cost of selling the iPhone would be too high for smaller carriers to bear. Even with Sprint, some analysts were initially skeptical that the No. 3 mobile provider could meet Apple’s sales targets. Yet Sprint reported that its first weekend of iPhone sales was its best weekend ever.
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