T-Mobile

Just like the iPhone 4S, Apple is giving the iPhone 5 a wider appeal by allowing regional United States carriers to offer the device. Cricket Communications and C Spire both announced they will be carrying the iPhone 5 in select markets in the U.S. beginning Friday, September 28. That's one week after the iPhone 5 is set to land at the big three, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. GCI of Alaska and Appalachian Wireless will also offer the iPhone 5 on September 28.

The iPhone 5 will launch in United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Singapore on September 21. Apple will then rollout the iPhone 5 in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland on September 28.

T-Mobile has begun distributing nanoSIMs to retailers eight days before the purported Apple iPhone 5 event is supposed to take place. iFun (via 9to5Mac) posted an image of the Telekom (T-Mobile) nanoSIM being distributed to European retailers.

Apple's 40 percent smaller nanoSIM card design was approved by the European Telecommunications Institute (ETSI) in June. It was originally believed Apple would not use the smaller SIMs in the iPhone 5, but months later it was confirmed that European carriers were stocking up on cards in anticipation of the new iPhone's release. Meaning Apple's next-generation iPhone should be the first device to utilize the standard.

T-Mobile may not be an official Apple partner, but the company is making serious moves to increase the amount of iPhones used on its network. According to a leaked flyer obtained by TMONews, the carrier is preparing to launch a "Bring Your iPhone to T-Mobile" campaign.

The flyer shows how much money AT&T customers will save if they bring their unlocked iPhones to T-Mobile. The carrier's move comes after AT&T's Mobile Share Plan / FaceTime controversy, and right before Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 5 in Spetmeber. iOS 6 will add 3G cellular calling to the popular FaceTime feature on the iPhone 4S and later models, and AT&T has announced that its subscribers will need a Mobile Share data plan to use the 3G service. T-Mobile hopes AT&T's unpopular FaceTime policy will convince some AT&T subscribers to switch carriers, but that's not all T-Mobile has up its sleeve.

T-Mobile has a strange relationship with Apple. They're the only major U.S. carrier who doesn't officially carry the iPhone, but they're very proud that over one million T-Mobile subscribers are iPhone users. T-Mobile has even went as far as to offer free iPhone micro SIM cards, and are working on building a "iPhone compatible" network. Now they're offering free iPhone support to their subscribers.

T-Mobile recently launched an iPhone support webpage to teach users how to optimize their iPhones. An iDownloadblog reader received an email announcing the new service:

"FREE T-Mobile Msg: Help speed up your iPhone. Free up memory to keep it running at its best. Learn how: m.t-mobilescoop.com/memory/iphone”

T-Mobile may have missed out on the iPhone party so far, but the company has big plans in the works that will allow iPhone owners to access higher speeds on its network. The company is spending $4 billion to launch 4G LTE with the help of Nokia-Siemens and Ericsson.

Not only will T-Mobile be rolling out LTE, but the company also plans to fire up 1900 MHz band 4G HSPA+ service as well. The wireless carrier plans to cover 75 percent of the top 25 markets with LTE speeds. The failed merger between T-Mobile and AT&T has netted the company AWS spectrum licenses as part of the deal.