U.S. Cellular has finally joined the pack. The company’s chief executive officer, Mary Dillon, announced Friday that the company will begin selling the iPhone this year, according to the Associated Press.
The wireless carrier was offered the iPhone approximately a year and a half ago but declined. According to Dillon, U.S. Cellular thought the Apple product was too expensive.
The iPhone is more expensive to carry than most smartphones. Cellphone carriers usually just take the hit and sell the phone for, at most, $199.
Dillon said the company realized that most of the customers dropping the Chicago-based company’s service were displeased that it did not carry the popular smartphone. This was especially true for customers who were on contract plans with the company. Since the company rejected the iPhone, it has seen 268,000 customers leave—which translates to about 5 percent.
Another issue U.S. Cellular has to worry about is the commitment Apple requires for purchasing the iPhone. Apple asks that carriers commit to a certain number of iPhones in order for them to sell the device. U.S. cellular has agreed to purchase $1.2 billion worth of iPhones over the next three years. This equals about 2 million iPhones.
U.S. Cellular shares dropped 2.8 percent to $37.39 in afternoon trading. This indicates possible worry from shareholders about the cost of the iPhone. While the company possesses its own stock listing it is controlled by the phone company Telephone & Data Systems Inc.
Now that U.S. Cellular will begin selling the iPhone, the top six wireless companies will all be selling the device. This includes Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, Metro PCS (which recently combined with T-Mobile) and U.S. Cellular.
Dillon added that U.S. Cellular’s new and faster data network also persuaded the company to pick up the iPhone.
