Microsoft announced Windows Phone 8 today, saying it would launch with Nokia, Huawei, Samsung and HTC phones. But these phones won't sell well in the U.S. market without support from the U.S. carriers.
We reached out to major U.S. operators to find out if they'll support Windows Phone 8. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon all confirmed that they will carry Windows Phone 8 devices. Cricket, MetroPCS and Sprint have stayed coy, and we haven't heard back from U.S. Cellular yet.
AT&T: The company sent me this statement. "AT&T plans to carry a new line of Windows Phone 8 smartphones launching later this year. The unmatched leader in Windows Phone – offering the very first 4G LTE Windows Phone smartphones in the U.S. – AT&T is home to the most robust Windows Phone portfolio of any carrier."
T-Mobile: "T-Mobile is very bullish on Windows 8 and will be a partner at launch," a company spokesman told us via e-mail. The carrier followed up with an official blog post extolling Windows Phone 8.
Verizon Wireless: "We have said publicly that we will support the Windows Phone 8 platform," a spokesperson told us via e-mail, but didn't give details on exactly when. However, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo told Reuters in April that the phones would be coming by the end of the year.
Cricket, MetroPCS, and Sprint are taking a wait-and-see approach.
Cricket: In May, Cricket told us that it's in discussions with OEMs on whether to carry Windows Phone 8. Today it said "we have said that we want to offer customers a range of choices regarding phones, plans and operating systems," but no more than that.
MetroPCS: "We'll continue to monitor the consumer adoption of Windows Phones in the marketplace," said Jay Moller, Metro's handset product planner.
Sprint: "We have a very strong relationship with our Microsoft partners, but we don't comment on products and services not yet announced." (Sprint's product head David Owens told us in May that he was "bullish" on WP8.)