US Cellular embraces iPhone after rejecting it
U.S. Cellular, the fifth largest cellphone company and the only major one to resist the iPhone, says it's going to start selling it this year.
CEO Mary Dillon announced the reversal Friday on a call with investors and analysts. She didn't specify exactly when the company would start selling Apple's phone, or what models it would carry.
A year and a half ago, Dillon said U.S. Cellular Corp. had the opportunity to carry the phone but rejected it because it was too expensive. The iPhone is more expensive than most smartphones, and phone companies absorb this cost to sell it for $199 or less.
Dillon says many of customers leaving the Chicago-based company are doing so because it doesn't carry the iPhone.
Telephone & Data Systems Inc. owns U.S. Cellular.
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