To further boost its subscriber base, as well as give Apple another sales channel, Sprint Nextel Corp . will begin selling the new version of Apple iPhone starting mid-October, according to a “Wall Street Journal” report. Apple's new iPhone, to be labeled iPhone 5, was expected to arrive next month. But, the Sprint-Apple deal suggests that the arrival of the new iPhone has been pushed to mid-October.
According to sources closer to the carriers, Verizon Wireless and AT&T, the two largest wireless carriers, will also begin selling new Apple’s iPhones in mid-October, wrote WSJ journal.
Sprint, the third largest carrier in the US, had more than 52 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter as compared with 106 million for Verizon and nearly 99 million for AT&T, wrote WSJ reporters Joann S Lublin and Spencer E Ante.
The WSJ report indicates that selling the iPhone will help Sprint retain customers who have been leaving to get leading edge devices from the rivals. Unlike Sprint, to keep the subscriber base growing, the rivals have exploited the trend setting smarphones for more than a year now.
A source familiar to the situation told WSJ journal that Sprint will also carry the iPhone 4, along with iPhone 5 starting mid-October.
Speaking to WSJ reporters, Richard Doherty, director of the research firm Envisioneering Group, said, “The addition of the iPhone would help Sprint retain many of its customers itching to upgrade. The iPhone will also increase foot traffic in Sprint stores, which should help the company to sell high-margin iPhone accessories.”
Herbert Hovenkamp, a professor of law at the University of Iowa, told WSJ reporters that Sprint iPhone deal would probably help AT&T's efforts to purchase T-Moobile USA. Hovenkamp said, “The question is how much more competition do you get when you have two rivals rather than one."
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Ashok Bindra is a veteran writer and editor with more than 25 years of editorial experience covering RF/wireless technologies, semiconductors and power electronics. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Carrie Schmelkin 
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