Despite not being an official Apple partner carrier, T-Mobile on Tuesday announced that it has nearly 2 million iPhones operating on its network, and interest in Apple's handset is fueling over 100,000 activations every month.
In statements at the Citi Global Internet, Media and Telecommunications conference, T-Mobile CEO John Legere told attendees that some 1.9 million iPhones have been activated as of January, which TmoNews reports is a boost of 200,000 users in the past 30 days alone.
While it is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the U.S., T-Mobile only recently announced a deal to sell Apple's products starting in 2013. In contrast, small regional carriers like Appalachian Wireless and Cricket Communications kicked off sales of the latest iPhone 5 in September.
T-Mobile has apparently changed its tune in regard to the iPhone as the company's U.S. Chief Operating Officer Jim Ailing said in November that he was unwilling to make the major investment required to carry Apple's popular handset.
"Make no mistake about it: We would love to carry the iPhone," Ailing said at the time. "However, we want the economies to be right for us."
The economics have apparently changed over the past month and T-Mobile seems to be raring to start official sales later this year.
T-Mobile’s Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray said in a statement earlier today that the company's first LTE market is slated to roll out in Las Vegas over the next “two to three weeks.â€