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Report: Steve Jobs wanted Apple to be a wireless carrier

21.05.12

“He and I spent a lot of time talking about whether synthetically you could create a carrier using WiFi spectrum,” Stanton reportedly said. “That was part of his vision.”

Analysts and tech geeks have spun hypothetical scenarios of Apple as a wireless service provider before. With the proliferation of devices that can run on 3G wireless networks, they’ve argued, it would make sense for the company.

In May, The Next Web’s Matthew Panzarino outlined his vision for AppleNet, a data-only network that would use voice-over IP services and Facetime for calls. The simplicity of having just a data plan to deal with, he argued, would be a great draw for customers. In his dreamed-up scenario, Panzarino said that Apple could buy a smaller carrier such as Sprint and use its infrastructure as a starting point.

As Panzarino points out, Apple has been steadily cutting into the services traditionally offered by wireless companies. That’s been made even more clear with the addition iMessage — the texting and multimedia message service that Apple introduced with iOS 5.

Source: Washington Post