Sprint Plunks Down $15.5 Billion To Carry Apple iPhones

On Sprint's quarterly financial conference call the world finally learned the exact figures surrounding the wireless carrier's deal with Apple Inc. to carry the iPhone 4S. The deal is for a period of four years and will cost Sprint $15.5 billion over the life of the deal.

Sprint actually is very confident that the deal will be a money maker. Here's what Sprint's CEO Dan Hesse had to say about the deal, "We expect the lifetime value of a typical iPhone customer to be at least 50 percent - yes, at least 50 percent - greater than a typical smartphone user, driven primarily by more efficient use of our network and lower churn."

Sprint plans on selling 1 million iPhones in the fourth quarter which is not bad when you consider how the two largest wireless carriers are doing with their iPhone sales. ATT Wireless has sold 2.7 million iPhones in the fourth quarter while Verizon Wireless is on the heels of Ma' Bell by selling 2 million iPhones.

Let's not forget AT&T had exclusive rights to the iPhone from Apple Inc. when the smartphone was launched and Verizon only recently got the device in the last two years.

Read