T-Mobile CEO John Legere stirs up a tweetstorm in his effort to explain all the surrounding confusion around the new Apple SIM (subscriber identification module).
In an entire series of 20 tweets, Legere tries to shed some light on how the Apple SIM will work. Apple initially announced its new SIM as an easy way for users to switch carriers without having to physically obtain new SIMs and switch them on their devices. However, America's biggest mobile carriers don't seem to be very happy about the Apple SIM. Last week, AT&T confirmed that it will use the new Apple SIM on the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 but will lock down the SIM to AT&T's network, rendering the entire thing an exercise in pointlessness. Moreover, users on other carriers who decide to switch cannot pick AT&T.
5/ You can pick @att but once you do, you can’t switch again! #typical
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) October 25, 2014
6/ And if you pick another carrier, @att is removed from subsequent choices. — John Legere (@JohnLegere) October 25, 2014
AT&T spokesperson Mark Siegel makes it clear, however, that users will still be able to switch carriers if they want to, unless they are locked down to a two-year contract with AT&T.
"You have always been able to switch," Siegel says. "The issue is how you switch."
Verizon, on the other hand, decided not to have anything to do with the Apple SIM altogether.
4/ @verizonwireless chose not to play at all….Not even on the Apple SIM!
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) October 25, 2014
Legere says both T-Mobile and Sprint have initially embraced the concept of an Apple SIM that "expands and enhances (Apple's) position in the mobile ecosystem."
Here is where it gets confusing. A document posted on Apple's support page shows Sprint will be fitting iPads sold on their stores with "legacy Sprint SIM cards" instead of the Apple SIM, which means Sprint most likely has decided not to support other carriers after all.
Moreover, as Legere says, Sprint requires users switching from other carriers with a device fitted with an Apple SIM to have the IMEI number (International Mobile Station Equipment Identity) of that device registered with Sprint first, entailing a process much more complicated than simply getting a new SIM from Sprint.
17/ @Sprint requires that the IMEI associated with a device (activated with an Apple SIM) be in their network registry to activate — John Legere (@JohnLegere) October 25, 2014
18/ That means an #iPad originally sold in any other carrier store will not activate on @Sprint, even if you use an non-configured Apple SIM — John Legere (@JohnLegere) October 25, 2014
Presumably, T-Mobile is the best carrier for the new iPads, but an alleged leaked internal memo shows T-Mobile also plans to lock down the Apple SIM to its own network. This, however, is limited to devices sold at T-Mobile's stores and not to devices bought at Apple's retail stores, which will come fully equipped with the open choice functionality of the Apple SIM. Legere himself does not confirm it, but his tweetstorm suggests T-Mobile isn't planning on an Apple SIM lockdown soon.
