T-Mobile Stoked with First Day iPhone 5 Sales, Now Eyes Dish Network Deal

It's been a long and often times tumultuous road to the iPhone for T-Mobile, the fourth largest carrier in the U.S. that was nearly absorbed by AT&T a little over a year ago. T-Mobile yesterday starting selling iPhone 5 devices, and in doing so, it became the last of the major wireless carriers to offer Apple's smartphone. Was it a success? How many handsets did it sell?

The answer to the first question is "yes," as evidenced by the lines extending out and wrapping around several T-Mobile retail store locations. According to T-Mobile's chief of marketing, Mike Sievert, this was a common occurrence at practically all of its 3,000 locations coast-to-coast.

T-Mobile Line
Image Source: Twitter user Walter Piecyk (@piecykw)

As for how that translated into sales, well, what's the numerical value for "gangbusters?"

"Today has been gangbusters for T-Mobile," Sievert said in a statement, according to AllThingsD. "We experienced lines out the door this morning at nearly all of our almost 3,000 stores nationwide."

In separate news, while this is going on, Dish Network is reportedly trying to put together a deal with Deutsche Telekom that would merge the satellite provider with T-Mobile, according to Bloomberg. The deal would allow subscribers to bundle wireless service with satellite TV.

Dish Network
Image Source: Flickr (pattiesolace)

As the story goes, Dish made the bid after Deutsche Telekom sweetened an offer for MetroPCS. Duetsche Telecom is said to be interested in a Dish deal, but it wants to both complete the MetroPCS merger first and verify that a separate deal with Sprint Nextel is off the table.