[aaronsw]

And where are they supposed to get all the towers? That's a multi-year construction project and, if they try it, they'll alienate their existing carrier partners.

Now maybe Apple thinks they can afford to do that, but it seems risky.

[flyt]

The carriers don't operate their own cell towers, they're run by an outside company that just leases space to ATT/VZW. Apple could work with this company to add their new network to the towers.

This would prevent the MVNO situation where you're still dependent on one of the large carriers for the connection, and ultimately at their whims.

http://www.quora.com/Does-each-wireless-carrier-own-their-ow...

[smackfu]

The carriers do own the spectrum though, and that's the part Apple can't easily buy. What good are your own transmitters if you aren't allowed to transmit on any frequencies?

[esonderegger]

I could be wrong, but I think process for buying spectrum varies widely from country to country.

I don't see Apple doing something like this if they can't do it globally. In other words, I would file this under "highly unlikely".

[danilocampos]

> And where are they supposed to get all the towers?

They aren't.

> Bluestein said while speaking at the Informa MVNO Industry Summit in Barcelona.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_virtual_network_operator

[hedgehog]

Going MVNO would put them in the awkward position of competing with their own suppliers. Then again they're in this situation with Samsung and it hasn't been fatal yet. The one thing that makes this interesting to me is that they are now shipping handsets that will work on multiple carriers in almost every market. This would let Apple brand the service as their own but pit the carriers against each other behind the scenes to get the best deal on connectivity. A customer's phone might switch networks from hour to hour and they'd still pay the same bill and see an Apple logo in the upper left.

[phil]

Is there an MVNO yet that's not just barely scraping along? They're in a lousy bargaining position and most seem to just get crushed.