US Cellular Said No To Apple & The iPhone

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It looks like the moral of the story here is that come cellular companies are willing to take a big risk and some are not as willing. Of course, on the flip side of that statement, some probably are not willing to gamble if the terms are not what they feel comfortable with.

Anyway, while we saw Sprint spend quite a bit of money to get the iPhone, it looks like regional carrier US Cellular was able to restrain and say no. Yup, US Cellular turned Apple down. And nicely done, they did so calling the potential terms unacceptable. According to details coming from a recent report on FierceWireless, US Cellular CEO Mary Dillon stated that Apple’s “terms were unacceptable from a risk and profitability standpoint.”

Furthermore, Dillon went on to clarify that the decision to turn them down was not due in any way to the strength (or lack thereof) of their network. And once again on a positive and hopeful note, US Cellular remains open to potentially getting the iPhone at a future date.

Otherwise, while we are fairly certain that some US Cellular customers are disappointed, there is not any shortage of available US carriers. After all, gone are the days when the iPhone is AT&T only. In fact, the iPhone 4S (and 4) is now available with quite a few carriers including Verizon Wireless, Sprint and C Spire (formerly Cellular South).

And lastly, US Cellular is still expected to bring tiered data plans in “the first half of 2012.” But alas, further details on those tiers are not yet available. And for those wondering about their decision to go with tiered data plans, that appears to be coming from both a monetary angle as well as a growth angle. According to US Cellular’s executive vice president and chief strategy and brand officer Alan Ferber, the tiered plans “will not only help us on monetizing the data growth, but that will also, in combination with lower-cost smartphones, allow customers to move from feature phones to their very first smartphone.”