Right now, U.S. cellphone users can only choose between AT&T and Verizon Wireless if they want to use the iPhone without jailbreaking it to use on another provider’s network. And even though T-Mobile may eventually get the iPhone if AT&T can convince the courts and regulators to let its purchase of T-Mobile USA go through, a number of customers aren’t waiting.

In an open letter to customers, T-Mobile USA’s Chief Marketing Officer writes:

We’ve heard from many customers who love their T-Mobile service, but are disappointed that we don’t carry the iPhone. To these customers, first, thank you for your business. Please know that we think the iPhone is a great device and Apple knows that we’d like to add it to our line-up. Today, there are over a million T-Mobile customers using unlocked iPhones on our network. We are interested in offering all of our customers a no-compromise iPhone experience on our network.

So until the day that AT&T finally buys T-Mobile or Apple bestows upon T-Mobile the right to sell the iPhone, he says the company is focusing on working with manufacturers to create better Android smartphones. He singles out the Samsung Galaxy S II and the HTC Amaze, of which he writes, “We’re very confident that these Android smartphones rival or beat any smartphone out there in terms of functionality, speed, overall experience and features – including the iPhone.”

He also points out the often overlooked fact that Android is “rivaling and even outpacing the iPhone, including consumer adoption, market share and capabilities like support for faster 4G networks.”

Making the case even stronger for Android, Mr. T-Mobile mentions that iPhones don’t offer the options — “colors, screen sizes, slide-out keyboards, price points and customization” — offered by phones running Android.

About the iPhone – a Letter to T-Mobile Customers [T-Mobile blog via MacWorld]

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