If you walk into a WIND Mobile store or check their website, you will not find any Apple iPhone. But the carrier revealed today that it already has more than 2,500 customers using iPhones on its network. And that number could jump even higher when the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S go on sale on September 20th, still without WIND Mobile selling any iPhones.
Fact of the day: Did you know WIND already has over 2500 iPhone users on our real unlimited plans? http://t.co/1uVspQdu0O
— WIND Mobile (@WINDmobile) September 17, 2013
It all became possible when Verizon began selling iPhones earlier this year. Apple added AWS compatibility to specific iPhone 5 models to support Verizon. These same models also work with WIND Mobile’s network as well as those of Eastlink, Mobilicity and Videotron. The upcoming unlocked models of the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S will also support AWS, making it possible for customers to use them on the smaller carriers’ networks as well.
When a customer walks into an Apple store to buy an iPhone, they must be activated and locked to a network at time of purchase. But iPhones purchased online through Apple.com are unlocked so that all a customer then needs to do is purchase a micro-SIM card from their carrier.
As for WIND Mobile, it already sells micro-SIM cards and is still hoping to one day offer the iPhone directly through its stores and website. “We are working on that,” Mr. Lacavera said, adding that “We don’t exist to Apple. We’re so small… There are some significant commitments that need to be made. So, we are working on alternate sources for it.”
Sources : @WINDMobile // The Globe and Mail