Edible Apple

It’s hard to ignore all of the evidence pointing to Sprint carrying the iPhone this Fall. From Apple hiring carrier engineers in Sprint’s hometown to rumors of Apple deploying Sprint cell towers on its campus for advanced iPhone testing, it’s a safe bet that come this Fall, Verizon and AT&T won’t be the only carriers in the US touting the iPhone.

But as opposed to Al Gore, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse is playing things much closer to the vest when iPhone rumors are brought to his attention.

At an investor conference last week, Hesse skirted around iPhone rumors while merely stating that the company would have to adjust their financial guidance if the looming iPhone rumor, in fact, turned out to be true.

Other than that, it was all quiet on the western front, with Hesse stating from the get-go that he wouldn’t address any of the iPhone/Sprint rumors floating around.

Interestingly enough, and speaking to the power of the iPhone, Hesse did acknowledge that the iPhone has been the biggest reason customers have decided to leave Sprint for another carrier.

It’s also worth noting that Sprint CFO Joe Euteneuer recently explained that Sprint would be able to handle the onslaught of traffic that would inevitably occur if Sprint begin carrying Apple’s revolutionary smartphone. A purely hypothetical statement, of course.

Lastly, a report from a few weeks ago claimed that Sprint will offer Apple’s next-gen iPhone with an unlimited data plan in an effort to differentiate itself from AT&T and Verizon who have both moved to tiered data plans in recent months.

For what it’s worth, AT&T, at least publicly, seems wholly unconcerned. Just last week AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson scoffed at the idea that iPhone availability on another carrier would have a substantial impact on Ma’ Bell.

“Anytime there’s another competitor launching Apple’s hit device,” Stephenson explained, “the expectations for what would happen to the carrier that had it before is overblown. The competitive dynamic will be no different than the last time.”

Related: Sprint installing signal boosting hardware in Apple Stores

via CNET