--- title: Apple Could Be Your Next Wireless Company description: The company is reportedly in talks with carriers canonical: https://time.com/3982542/apple-wireless/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-03T17:43:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:06:14.440Z article:section: Business og:title: Apple Could Be Your Next Wireless Company og:description: The company is reportedly in talks with carriers og:url: https://time.com/3982542/apple-wireless/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt338a878d3fdcbebc/69885da1a988caf04f6b3b9f/gettyimages-455696322.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Apple's I Phone : Launch at Apple Opera Store In Paris og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Apple Could Be Your Next Wireless Company twitter:description: The company is reportedly in talks with carriers twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt338a878d3fdcbebc/69885da1a988caf04f6b3b9f/gettyimages-455696322.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Apple Could Be Your Next Wireless Company ## Video: Apple's Iconic Product Releases of the Past [Watch (HLS stream): Apple's Iconic Product Releases of the Past](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dgZyU3Dp.m3u8) (1:41)  _Published 2014-09-08. Take A Look Back at Apple's 7 Biggest Product Releases_ by [Jonathan Chew / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Jonathan Chew / Fortune Aug 3, 2015 5:43 PM CUT  A Woman checks the iPhone 6, on the day of its launch at the Apple Store Opera on September 19, 2014, in Paris, France. A Woman checks the iPhone 6, on the day of its launch at the Apple Store Opera on September 19, 2014, in Paris, France.Chesnot—Getty Images by [Jonathan Chew / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Jonathan Chew / Fortune Aug 3, 2015 5:43 PM CUT Apple is reportedly in talks with telecom companies in the U.S. and Europe to let customers pay the Cupertino-based tech giant for wireless service directly, rather than going through firms like AT&T or Verizon. The company is conducting private trials of the service in the U.S. and has engaged in discussions with European companies to offer a similar service there, [Business Insider](http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-in-talks-to-launch-an-mvno-in-the-us-and-europe-2015-8 "undefined") reports. If such a deal were to materialize, Apple would pay a wireless carrier to lease access to its network, then resell that access to customers. It’s a popular model already in use by wireless providers like Republic Wireless, which relies on Sprint’s network when Wi-Fi isn’t available. There are [reportedly](http://www.amgoo.com/blog/the-big-mvno-list-83-mvno-providers-in-usa "undefined") more than 80 such wireless providers in the U.S. Talks of Apple entering the carrier arena have persisted since 2006, when Apple filed a patent application for a such a service. The biggest benefit for Apple would be control, as it could provide Apple-branded wireless options to its iPhone and iPad customers. The timing of this news comes after Google [unveiled](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/project-fi.html "undefined") “Project Fi” in April, that company’s own wireless service that relies on a combination of Wi-Fi as well as Sprint and T-Mobile’s networks. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3982542/apple-wireless/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3982542/apple-wireless/"},"headline":"Apple Could Be Your Next Wireless Company","datePublished":"2015-08-03T17:43:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:06:14.440Z","description":"The company is reportedly in talks with carriers","url":"https://time.com/3982542/apple-wireless/","keywords":["Apple","Tech","Wireless","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt338a878d3fdcbebc/69885da1a988caf04f6b3b9f/gettyimages-455696322.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jonathan Chew / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt338a878d3fdcbebc/69885da1a988caf04f6b3b9f/gettyimages-455696322.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Apple's I Phone : Launch at Apple Opera Store In Paris","caption":"Apple's I Phone : Launch at Apple Opera Store In Paris","creditText":"Chesnot—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/apple/","name":"Apple"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3982542/apple-wireless/","name":"Apple Could Be Your Next Wireless Company"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Apple's Iconic Product Releases of the Past","description":"Take A Look Back at Apple's 7 Biggest Product Releases","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dgZyU3Dp/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-08T18:16:08.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dgZyU3Dp.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3982542/apple-wireless/","duration":"PT1M41S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3982542/apple-wireless/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```