To date, if you wanted to buy a BlackBerry Priv you either had to cough up the full retail price for an unlocked device or else switch to AT&T.
This is now set to change, as it seems the Priv will be available on contract via T-Mobile as early as the 26th January 2016.
BlackBerry Priv on leaked internal T-Mobile Calendar
News of the Priv’s arrival at T-Mobile hasn’t been officially confirmed yet.
However, a leaked T-Mobile internal work calendar indicates a planned release date of 26 January 2016.
The entry on T-Mobile’s calendar reads “BlackBerry Venice”, the phone’s code name before its official launch. It’s possible that this launch date was agreed a while ago. The schedule might have changed considerably since then.
That said, CEO John Chen confirmed that the Priv would become available through more carriers once AT&T’s exclusivity deal expires. The deal’s expiration date is the 20th January 2016, so a 26th January release date on T-Mobile would make perfect sense.
FCC paves the way for the Priv to launch on Verizon
Earlier in December, the FCC also cleared the way for the Priv to be released on the Verizon network, but the carrier is yet to reveal any information about the official release date.
The BlackBerry Priv has been making waves since its release, and sales of the device have far surpassed initial expectations. It’s availability on contract via more mobile networks will doubtless increase its popularity even further.