3 Reasons A T-Mobile iPhone Makes Sense

1. The UMTS/HSPA Jump: As Wu noted in his research discussion , AT&T and T-Mobile both offer 3G services using UMTS/HSPA technology, whereas Verizon (and Sprint, for that matter) use CDMA. Although reports surfaced in late March that Apple was testing out a CDMA version of the iPhone that could most definitely mean a Verizon iPhone, the easiest technology leap for Apple is T-Mobile.

2. T-Mobile An Easier Deal?: T-Mobile has lost plenty of ground to its carrier rivals. Sure, it had an early line on the triumph of Google Android by releasing the T-Mobile G1, but T-Mobile's Android gains have since been overshadowed by bolder, flashier Android phones on Verizon and Sprint, and the major T-Mobile-Android announcement of 2010 thus far -- the Nexus One -- has been by most accounts a failed experiment.

The ability to say "we've got the iPhone" gets T-Mobile into the limelight and may attract more than a few potential customers that see AT&T's notoriously difficult service as a hindrance to iPhone adoption. Knowing this, T-Mobile, as Wu pointed out, "could be more likely to agree to Apple's terms."

As Wu also notes, Apple is taking the Android threat very seriously. "Android's wins have been where iPhone isn't available, and that could change dramatically if the iPhone were available on more carriers," Wu writes.

Apple doesn't want Android to steal any more of it's thunder, and it's reasonable to think Apple will move as quickly as possible to steal back buzz before even slicker, faster, stronger Android devices emerge. T-Mobile is also removed from the AT&T-Verizon wars that have proven plenty distracting to smartphone launches in recent months.

3. Verizon Shifting Gears? For years now, the talk about iPhone's next carrier -- and most agree 2010 will most certainly spell the end of AT&T's iPhone exclusivity in the U.S. -- has centered on Verizon.

But Verizon iPhone rumors have an ebb and flow: hot one day, brushed aside the next. And Verizon is more focused on building out its 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) footprint, having said for a while now that it will be shifting away from CDMA all together. That doesn't necessary preclude a 4G LTE Verizon iPhone, but might take some emphasis off of a CDMA iPhone on Verizon in the short term.

Certain cultural differences between Verizon and Apple might still be holding things up. As Wu himself noted back in December, both Verizon, through its V Cast services, and Apple and its various app platforms and services, seek to control the media experience for customers. Would the two giants see eye-to-eye in a way that makes Apple truly comfortable?