Ting has said on multiple occasions that it was working to get support for Apple's iPhone hardware on its network, but to date there have been no official announcements regarding an official iPhone launch on the Sprint MVNO. It appears that Ting has quietly achieved its goal, though, as some support documents on the company's website reveal that its now beta testing support for select Apple hardware on its service.
Documents explaining how to activate an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S on Ting have been discovered on the company's website, marking the first time that consumers have been able to bring a Sprint iPhone and use it with Ting's select-a-size rate plans. A Ting employee has confirmed in the comments section of the documentation that it's currently beta testing its iPhone support, and the company's Bring Your Own Device whitelist has been updated to include both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.
Sources speaking to 9to5Mac claim that this beta testing phase is a result of a deal with Apple and Sprint that involves Ting proving that it can support iPhone customers and properly represent the brand. It's not clear how long this beta period will last, but it appears that any Ting customer should now be able to activate a Sprint iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S on the service. 9to5Mac's tipsters claim that Ting intends to offer the iPhone 5 in the near future as well, but that Sprint is making the MVNO wait a bit longer before it can add the 4-inch handset to its BYOD whitelist.
Ting customers have been able to bring their own Sprint hardware onto the service since late 2012, but there are certain requirements that a device must meet before it can be activated. For example, only inactive Sprint products are currently supported, and even then some restrictions prevent BlackBerrys and newer phones like the Galaxy S 4 from being used with Ting.
The iPhone is one device that Ting has long talked about working on getting support for, and so it's good to see that that the Sprint MVNO has finally added Apple's products to its BYOD whitelist, especially as the iPhone continues to make its way onto other providers in the U.S. And while Ting currently only supports the iPhone 4 and 4S, the fact that it's added some Apple hardware to its whitelist is a big win for the company. Here's to hoping that it's not long before Sprint greenlights the addition of the iPhone 5 to Ting's whitelist as well.
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