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Comment by Lewisham | Hacker News Reader

I can believe this story. Apple spins it that Sprint is ready now, AT&T and Verizon need to get their LTE networks ready. It'll be a very public push. Apple has never shied away from telling their "partners" exactly how annoyed they are at [X] facet of their business.

If this did happen, I'm not sure what the knock-on effect for Sprint is. Anyone who wants an iPhone has one. The Verizon thing is over. All those people are locked into contracts. I don't think we'll see lines out the door on release morning for iPhone 5 and Sprint.

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The AT&T 3gs crowd joined in June 2009, and many of them (myself included) are just out of contract and waiting to upgrade to the new phone. I think there's plenty of demand, especially if its not an ATT or verizon

I'm up for renewal and its perfect timing with my move to Bay in a month (and the crappy 3G coverage AT&T has there).

I'll early-term my contract to get away from AT&T. A new iPhone rev would be gravy.

I could also see it as retaliation for dropping all non-unlimited texting plans after iMessage was announced, or for changing iPads from unlimited data to 2 GB/month shortly after release.

I know a few people still on the 3GS, out of contract, and looking for an upgrade. If the iPhone 5 came out on another carrier (especially with an unlimited plan), they'd be happy to jump ship.

I believe you underestimate the general level of discontent with AT&T and Verizon.

All those millions of people who bought the 3GS when it was released are now at the end of their 2 year contract so it's a perfect time for Sprint to make a play for them. If they discount the upfront price of the iPhone, offer unlimited data, and $50/month service lots of people are going to jump.

God yes, I love my 3gs, but its long in the tooth now.

Just give me a decent amount of minutes I'll never use, maybe 4-5g data/mon with no tethering and unlimited texts for something close to what the Europeans get service for. If carriers want to play price war, its about damn time. AT&T and Verizon aren't going to play that ball unless someone blinks.

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