New York – The U.S. rollout of BlackBerry’s Q10 smartphone continues with Verizon Wireless offering the QWERTY keyboard device online and through indirect channels beginning today after AT&T yesterday began taking online preorders for June 18 shipment. The Q10 will be in Verizon’s stores June 10.
T-Mobile’s version of the Q10 became available June 5 through its stores and select indirect dealers.
For its part, Sprint is letting consumers register online to be alerted to Q10 availability, which the carrier said would be “soon.”
The Q10 and full-touch Z10, unveiled January 30, are BlackBerry’s first two smartphones with BlackBerry 10 OS, which the company admits is critical to turning around the company’s shrinking smartphone sales. The Z10 went on sale in March through all national carriers but Sprint, which elected not to offer the model.
AT&T and Verizon have priced their Z10 and Q10 versions at $199 with two-year contract. T-Mobile has priced its Z10 and Q10 at $99 plus 24 monthly payments of $20, or $579 total.
The Verizon version operates in LTE mode in the company’s 700MHz band, and for international data use, it operates in HSPA mode in the 850/900/1800/1900MHz bands. The AT&T version operates in LTE mode in its 700MHz and AWS bands, the company’s website shows. It also operates in HSPA+ mode in undisclosed but likely international bands.
T-Mobile’s Q10 operates in LTE mode on the carrier’s AWS and 1900MHz bands as well as in other domestic LTE bands. It also operates in 4G HSPA+42 mode in T-Mobile’s 1900MHz and AWS bands and in other domestic and foreign HSPA+42 bands, a spokesman said.
T-Mobile is launching LTE in its AWS band and shifting HSPA+ coverage to its 1.9GHz band from the AWS band.
