It's time for us die-hard T-Mo customers to face the music and move on if we ever dream about owning a fully functional iPhone. According to this leaked T-Mobile employee training memo, it looks as though the phone carrier will not be graced with the new iPhone 5.


T-Mobile is training its employees to "sell against the iPhone" with special emphasis on the date of September 21, which has been the rumored release date of the long-awaited iPhone 5 (does T-Mo have inside information or are they just speculating like the rest of us?). This doesn't actually come as a surprise to any one, however those of us who have still stuck with T-Mobile were hoping for a miracle.

For quite some time now T-Mobile has offered its customers the ability to use an unlocked iPhone and it looks as though they will continue to provide the microSIM cards needed to support T-Mo service according to TmoNews.

Is the effort to compete against the iPhone a little too late? Shouldn't T-Mobile focus on what they CAN offer their customers rather than what they CAN'T? No one is going to go into a T-Mobile store wanting an iPhone and expecting someone to sway them in another direction... especially on the day of the (expected) launch of the iPhone 5. T-Mobile has some great phones and (I can't believe I'm saying this) there are other great phones besides the iPhone, so why are they so hung up on this one?

I do have to admit that I have been using a factory unlocked iPhone 4 for over a year on the T-Mobile network and I am less than satisfied. Despite not being able to send picture text messages to anyone that doesn't have an iPhone, not having visual voicemail, and only being able to access the 2G network, I am still the happiest I have ever been with T-Mobile in the 8 years I've had service with them. It's this realization that has lead me to believe that is was not T-Mobile that caused me to fight with them weekly over the entire duration of my contract, it was the phones that caused me to be unhappy.

I went to T-Mobile 8 years ago to live out the Sidekick dream, I moved from one crappy SK model to the next, until some T-Mo rep in shining armor told me about a wondrous land called Android where I could run free with a cute little green fellow to lead the way. I tried several models and was still unhappy. Androids are great, I just don't have the patience for them. My life is complicated enough and I just wanted something simple. Straight forward. At any cost!. I'd loathed iPhone users out of pure envy until I finally realized I could have one too!

I am waiting for my contract with T-Mobile to expire so I can move on to greener pastures... pastures that include the highly anticipated iPhone 5. I thought there might be a chance they were able to get a deal with Apple for the new device, however this training memo crushes any hope of that. I'm thankful T-Mobile has been so accommodating to those of us who have iPhones on their network now but it's time to live the dream.