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Apple Is Not Planning to Be Your Wireless Carrier

Don't get your hopes up.
Photo courtesy Apple

Apple just poured cold water on a hot rumor.

Business Insider reported yesterday that Apple was in talks to launch its own wireless service, in which the Cupertino company would piggyback off existing wireless networks in the US and Europe to create its own Apple-branded network. Today Apple told multiple publications that it does not have "any plans" to do such a thing. (To be fair, Apple once upon told reporters that it had "no plans" to release a tablet computer, and we all know how that turned out.)

It should be noted that Apple does, in fact, have at least one patent, dating back to 2006, describing just such a wireless network.

The are several benefits to being its own wireless carrier, not least of which is total control over a customer's entire smartphone experience, from hardware (iPhone), to software (iOS), to the service itself. Apple could also offer force carriers, by way of competition, to offer better voice and data plans.

If any of this sounds familiar that's because it's exactly what Google is doing with its own Project Fi, in which the company leases wireless network capacity from carrier likes Sprint and T-Mobile to create its own bespoke wireless network. So far, the service is only in limited testing, though early reviews are encouraging.